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RUTH OF BOSTON 



A Story of the Massachusetts Bay Colony 



JAMES OTIS 




NEW YORK -:- CINCINNATI -:- CHICAGO 
AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 



A- 



Copyright, 1910, by 

JAMES OTIS KALER 

Entered at Stationers' Hall, London 

W. p. I 



»0.A259364 



FOREWORD 

The purpose of this series of stories is to show 
the children, and even those who have already taken 
up the study of history, the home life of the colonists 
with whom they meet in their books. To this end 
every effort has been made to avoid anything savor- 
ing of romance, and to deal only with facts, so far 
as that is possible, while describing the daily life 
of those people who conquered the wilderness whether 
for conscience sake or for gain. 

That the stories may appeal more directly to the 
children, they are told from the viewpoint of a child, 
and purport to have been related by a child. Should 
any criticism be made regarding the seeming neglect 
to mention important historical facts, the answer 
would be that these books are not sent out as 
histories, — although it is believed that they will awaken 
a desire to learn more of the building of the nation, 
and only such incidents as would be particularly 
noted by a child are used. 

3 



4 FOREWORD 

Surely it is entertaining as well as instructive for 
young people to read of the toil and privations in 
the homes of those who came into a new world to 
build up a country for themselves, and such homely 
facts are not to be found in the real histories of 
our land. 

James Otis. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 



A Proper Beginning 9 

On the Broad Ocean 11 

Making Ready for Battle 13 

The Rest of the Voyage 15 

The First View of America 17 

The Town of Salem 19 

Other Villages 21 

Visiting Salem 22 

Making Comparisons 25 

An Indian Guest and Other Visitors . . . 27 

A Christening and a Dinner 30 

Deciding upon a Home ^t, 

A Sad Loss 35 

Rejoicing Turned into Mourning .... 36 

Thanksgiving Day in July 38 

Leaving Salem for Charlestown .... 39 

Our Neighbors 40 

Getting Settled 42 

The Great Sickness 44 

Moving the Town 46 

Master Graves Prohibits Swimming ... 48 

Anna Foster's Party 49 

The Town of Boston 51 

Guarding against Fires 53 

Our Own New Home 54 

5 



6 CONTENTS 



PAGE 



The Fashion of the Day 56 

My Own Wardrobe 59 

Master Johnson's Death 60 

Many New Kinds of Food 61 

The Supply of Food 64 

The Sailing of the "Lyon" 66 

The Famine 67 

The Search for Food 69 

The Starvation Time 70 

A Day to Be Remembered 73 

The Coming of the "Lyon" 74 

Another Thanksgiving Day 75 

A Defense for the Town 78 

The Problem of Servants 79 

Chickatabut 80 

Buildlng a Ship 82 

Household Conveniences 84 

How the Work is Divided 86 

Launching the Ship 88 

Master Winthrop's Mishap 90 

New Arrivals 92 

Another Famine 94 

Fine Clothing Forbidden 96 

Our First Church 97 

A Troublesome Person 100 

The Village of Merry Mount . . . .101 

Punishing Thomas Morton 102 

Philip Ratcliff's Crime 105 

In the Pillory 107 

Stealing from the Indians 108 

The Passing of New Laws no 



CONTENTS 7 



PAGE 



Master Pormont's School 112 

School Discipline 114 

Other Tools of Torture 116 

Difficult Lessons 118 

Other Schools 119 

Raising Flax 121 

Preparing Flax 123 

Spinning, Bleaching, and Weaving Flax . . 125 

What We Girls Do at Home 127 

Making Soap 129 

Soap from Bayberries 132 

Goose-picking 133 

A Change of Governors 135 

The Flight of Roger Williams . . . .136 

Sir Harry Vane 138 

Making Sugar 140 

A "Sugaring Dinner" 143 

Training Day 146 

Shooting for a Prize 149 

Lecture Day 151 

Punishment for Evil-doers 152 

The Murder of John Oldham . . . .154 

Savages on the War-path 156 

Pequot Indians 158 



RUTH OF BOSTON 



A PROPER BEGINNING 



Truly it seems a great undertaking to journey from 
London into the land of America, yet I have done so, 

and because of there being 
very few girls only twelve 
years of age who are likely to 
make such a voyage, it seems 
to me well if I set down those 
things which I saw and did 
that might be interesting to 
myself in the future, when I 
shall have grown to be an old 
lady, if God permits, or to 
any other who may come upon 
this diary. 

Of course I must first set 
down who I am, in case strangers should some day 
chance to find this book, and, growing interested in 
it— for who can say that I may not be able to tell a 
story which shall be entertaining, because of there being 
in it much which the people of England have never 

9 




io RUTH OF BOSTON 

seen — give me credit for having written a diary without 
a proper beginning. 

You must know, then, that my name is Ruth. In the 
year of our Lord, 1630, when, as I have said, I was but 
twelve years of age, my father joined that company led 
by Master John Winthrop, whose intent it was to go into 
America to spread the gospel, and there also build up a 
town wherein should live only those who were one with 
them in the worship of God. 

This company was made up of four classes of people. 
First there were those who paid a sum of money for 
their passage to America, and, because of having done 
so, were to be given a certain number of acres of land 
in the New World. 

In the second class were those who, not having 
enough money to pay the full price for their passage, 
agreed to perform a sufficient amount of work, after 
arriving in America, to make up for the same. 

In the third class were those called indentured ser- 
vants, which is much the same as if I said apprentices. 

The fourth and last class had in it those people who 
were to work for wages, at whatsoever trade or calling 
they were best fitted. 

It needs not that I should say more by way of a 
beginning, for surely all the people in England, if they 
do not know it now, will soon come to understand why 
we, together with those who have gone before us, and 



ON THE BROAD OCEAN n 

the companies that are to come after, have journeyed 
into America. 



ON THE BROAD OCEAN 

It was decided that my parents, and, of course, 
myself, should sail in the same ship with Master Win- 
throp, and the name of that vessel was the Arabella, she 
having been so called in honor of Lady Arabella 
Johnson, who journeyed with us. 

My mother was sadly grieved because of Mistress 
Winthrop's deciding not to go on the voyage with her 
husband, but to join him in the New World later, and 
this decision was a disappointment to very many of 
the company. I am in doubt as to whether the Lady 
Arabella would have gone with us on this ship, had 
she not believed Mistress Winthrop also was to go. 

It was on the twenty-second day of March, in that 
year which I have previously set down, that, having 
already journeyed from London to Southampton, 
we went aboard the Arabella, counting that the 
voyage would be begun without delay, and yet, be- 
cause of unfriendly winds and cruel storms, our ship, 
with three others of the company, lay at anchor until 
the eighth day of April. 

Then it was, after the captain of the ship had shot 
off three guns as a farewell, that we sailed out on the 



RUTH OF BOSTON 




i0sk» 




broad ocean, where we 
were tossed by the waves 
and buffeted by the 
winds for nine long, 
dreary weeks. 

Had it not been for 
Master Winthrop's dis- 
courses day after day, 
we should have been 
more gloomy than we 
were; but with such a 
devout man to remind 
us of the mercy and 
goodness of God, it 
would have been little short of a sin had we repined 
because of not being carried more speedily to that land 
where was to be our home. 

There was one day during the voyage, when it seemed 
verily as if the Lord was not minded we should journey 
away from England. 

We had not been out from the port many days, when 
on a certain morning eight ships were seen behind us, 
coming up as if counting to learn what we were like; 
and then it was that all the men of the company be- 
lieved these were Spanish vessels bent on taking us 
prisoners, for, as you know, at that time England was 
at war with Spain. 



MAKING READY FOR BATTLE 



13 



It was most fearsome to all the children, but very 
much so to Susan, a girl very nearly my own age, with 
whom I made friends after coming aboard, and myself. 

MAKING READY FOR BATTLE 



When Susan and I saw the men taking down the 
hammocks from that portion of the vessel which was 
called the gun deck, 
loading the cannon, 
and brinsrinGf out the 
powder-chests, truly 
were we alarmed. 

Standing clasped 
in each other's arms, 
unheeded by our eld- 
ers, all of whom were 
in a painful state of 
anxiety or fear, we 
watched intently all 
that forenoon the ships 
which we believed be- 
longed to the enemy. 

Then I heard one of the sailors say that the Spaniards 
were surely gaining on us, and the captain of the vessel, 
as well as Master Winthrop and my father, must have be- 
lieved it true, for all preparations were made for a battle. 




14 RUTH OF BOSTON 

The small cabins, leading from the great one, were 
torn down that cannon might be used without hin- 
drance, and the bedding, and all things that were likely 
to take fire, were thrown overboard. The boats were 
launched into the sea and towed alongside the ship so 
that when the worst came we might fly in them, and 
then that which was most fearsome of all, the women 
and children were sent down into the very middle of 
the vessel, where they might not be in danger when 
the Spaniards began to send iron balls among us, 
as it seemed certain they soon would. 

While we were huddled together in the darkness, 
many weeping, some moaning, and a few women, 
among whom was my mother, silent in the agony of 
grief, Master Winthrop came down to pray with us, 
greatly to our comforting, after which, so I have been 
told since, he went up among the men where he per- 
formed the same office. 

It was not until an hour after noon that our people 
discovered that those ships which we believed to be 
Spanish, were English vessels, from which we had noth- 
ing to fear. 

Then word was sent down to us in that dark place 
that we might come up above, and once in the sunlight 
again, we found all the passengers rejoicing and mak- 
ing merry over the fears which had so lately beset them. 

How bright the sun looked to Susan and me as we 



THE REST OF THE VOYAGE 15 

stood near the rail of our ship, gazing at the vessels 
which only a few hours before were a fearsome sight, 
but now seemed so friendly! It was as if we had been 
very near to death, and were suddenly come into a place 
of safety. 

THE REST OF THE VOYAGE 

From that time until St. George's Day, which you 
all know is the twenty-third of April, nothing happened 
deserving of being set down here. Then it was, how- 
ever, that during the forenoon the captain moved our 
sails so that the ship would remain idle upon the waters, 
which is what sailors call "heaving to," and the cap- 
tains of the other vessels, together with Master Pynchon 
and many more gentlemen, came on board for a feast. 

Lady Arabella and the gentlewomen of our company 
had dinner in the great cabin, while the gentlemen 
partook of their good cheer in the roundhouse, as the 
sailors call it, which is a sort of cabin on the hinder- 
most part of the quarter-deck. 

By four o'clock in the afternoon the feast was at an 
end; the gentlemen who had come to visit us went on 
board their own ships, and again w r ere the vessels 
headed for that country of America in which we counted 
to spend the remainder of our lives. 

Susan and I were much together during this voyage, 



i6 



RUTH OF BOSTON 



for neither of us made very friendly with the other 
children, and I do not remember that anything of im- 
port happened until we were come, so the captain said, 
near to the New World. 

It is not needed I should set down that again and 
again were there furious storms, when it seemed cer- 
tain our ship would be sunk, for there was so much of 
such disagreeable weather during the nine weeks of 
voyaging, that if I were to make a record of each un- 
pleasant day, this diary would be filled with little else. 
I have set down, however, that on the seventh day of 
June, which was Monday, we had come, so Master 

Winthrop said, off "the 
Banks," where was good 
fishing to be found; but 
why this particular spot on 
the ocean should be called 
the Banks, neither Susan 
nor I could understand. 
The waves were much like 
those we had seen from day 
to day; but yet, in some 
way, the captain knew that 
we had come to the place 
where it would be possible 
to take fish in great num- 
bers, and so we did. 




THE FIRST VIEW OF AMERICA 17 

It is not seemly a young girl should set down the fact, 
with much of satisfaction, that she enjoyed unduly the 
food before her, and yet I must confess that those fish 
tasted most delicious after we had been feeding upon 
pickled pork, or pickled beef, with never anything 
fresh to take from one's mouth the flavor of salt. 

It was a feast, as Susan and I looked at the matter, 
far exceeding that which we had on St. George's Day, 
and surely more enjoyable to us, for what can be better 
pleasing to the mouth than a slice of fresh codfish, fried 
until it is so brown as to be almost beautiful, after one 
has had nothing save that which is pickled ? 

THE FIRST VIEW OF AMERICA 

Five days later, which is the same as if I said on 
the twelfth day of June, early in the morning, when 
Susan and I came on deck, we saw spread out before us 
the land, and it needed not we should ask if this was 
the America where we were to live, for all the people 
roundabout us were talking excitedly of the skill which 
had been displayed by the master of the Arabella, in 
thus bringing us directly to the place where we had 
counted on coming. 

It can well be fancied that Susan and I overhung the 
rail as the ship sailed nearer and nearer to the land, 
watching intently everything before us; yet seeing, 



RUTH OF BOSTON- 



18 RUTH OF BOSTON 

much to our surprise, little more than would have been 
seen had we come upon the coast of England. 

I had foolishly believed that even the shores of this 
New World would be unlike anything to be found else- 
where, and yet they were much the same. The rocks 
rising high above the waters, with the waves beating 
against them, made up a picture such as we had before 
us even while we lay at anchor off Cowes. The trees 
were like unto the trees in our own land, and the grass 
was of no different color. Save that all this before us 
was a wilderness, we might have been off the coast of 
Cornwall. 

I have said it was all the same, and yet because of the 
fears and the anxieties regarding the future, was it 
different. 

This was the land to which we had come for the 
making of a new home ; the place where our parents had 
pledged themselves to spread the gospel as the Lord 
would have it spread. 

We knew, because of what had been written by our 
friends who had journeyed to this new world before us 
that here we were to find brown savages, many of whom, 
like wild beasts, would thirst to shed our blood. Here 
also could we expect to see fierce animals, such as might 
not be met with elsewhere in the world; and, in the way 
of blessings, we should meet those friends of ours who, 
for conscience sake and for the will to do God's bidding, 



THE TOWN OF SALEM 



19 



had come to prepare the land that it should be more 
friendly toward us. 



THE TOWN OF SALEM 



I had not yet been able to discover any of the dwell- 
ings which marked the town of Naumkeag, or Salem, 
when all the cannon on board our vessel were set off 
with a great noise. Then, as we came around a point 
of land, there appeared before our eyes a goodly ship 
lying at anchor, and beyond her the town that was— 




much to my disappointment, for I had fancied some- 
thing grander — made up of a few log houses which 
seemed rather to be quarters for servants than 
dwellings for gentlemen's families, although we had 
been told that the habitations would be rude in- 
deed. 



20 RUTH OF BOSTON 

A boat was put into the water from our ship, and as 
the sailors rowed toward the vessel which was at 
anchor, I heard my father say to my mother that they 
were going in quest of Master William Pierce, a London 
friend of ours. 

As we watched, I asked that question which had 
come often in my mind during the voyage, which was, 
why this new town that Master Endicott had built 
should have two names. 

Mother told me that the Indians had called the place 
Naumkeag, and so also did those men who first settled 
here ; but when some of our people came, and gathered 
around them-several from the Plymouth Colony, together 
with a number of planters who had built themselves 
homes along the shore, it was decided to name the new 
town Salem, which means peace, for here it was they 
hoped to gain that peace which should be on this earth 
like unto the peace we read of in the Book, which 
passeth all understanding. 

And now before I set down that which we saw, 
and while you are picturing our company on the 
deck of the Arabella looking shoreward, impatient 
to set their feet once more on the earth, let me 
tell you what I had heard, since we left England, 
regarding this town of peace, and those of our peo- 
ple, or of other faiths, who settled here two years or 
more ago. 



OTHER VILLAGES 21 



OTHER VILLAGES 



Master Endicott, who was of our faith, had come to 
these shores in March of the year 1628, with a com- 
pany of thirty or forty people, and, finding other men 
living at the head of this harbor which the Arabella had 
entered after her long voyage, decided to build his 
home at this place. 

In the next year, Master Higginson, coming over 
with six vessels in which were eighteen women, twenty- 
six children, and three hundred men, joined the little 
colony. These last brought with them one hundred 
and forty head of cattle, and forty goats. 

However, only two hundred of this last company 
remained at Salem, the others having chosen to build 
for themselves a new town, which they called Charles- 
town, on that large body of water which is set down 
on the maps as Massachusetts Bay. 

In addition to these two villages, it was said that 
there were five or six houses at the place called Nan- 
tasket; that one Master Samuel Maverick was living on 
Noddles Island, and one Master William Blackstone 
on the Shawmut Peninsula. 

I have set this clown to the end that those who read it 
may understand we were not come into a wild country, 
in which lived none but savages, and I must also add 



22 RUTH-OF BOSTON 

that not so many miles away was the town of Plymouth, 
where had been living, during ten years, a company of 
Englishmen who had worked bravely to make for 
themselves a home. 

And now since I am done with explaining, and since 
the boat which put out from our vessel and which I 
left you watching, has come back from that other ship, 
bringing Master William Pierce, let me tell you what 
we did on the first day in this new world. 

VISITING SALEM 



The gentlemen 
and ladies of our 
company were in- 
vited on shore to a 
feast of deer meat, 
while the servant 
women and maids 
were allowed to 
land on the other 
side of the harbor, 
where they feasted 
themselves on wild 
strawberries, which 
were exceeding 
large and sweet. 




VISITING SALEM 23 

It would be untrue for me to say that deer meat made 
into a huge pie is not inviting, because of my having 
enjoyed it greatly, and yet I could not give so much 
attention to the dainty as I would have done at almost 
any other time, so intent was I upon seeing this village 
concerning which Master Endicott had written so many 
words of praise. 

Had Susan and I come upon it within an hour after 
leaving the city of London, it would have looked ex- 
ceedingly poor and mean; but now, when we were on 
the land after a voyage of nine long weeks, verily it 
seemed like a wondrous pleasant place in which to live. 

More than an hundred dwellings, so my father said, 
had been built. Some were of logs laid one on top of 
the other in a clumsy fashion, with the places where 
windows of glass should have been, covered with oiled 
paper, and doors that were so cumbersome and heavy 
it was a real task for Susan and me to open and close 
them, but yet they had a homely look. 

Then there were what might be called sheds, made 
of logs, or the bark of trees, and, in two cases, dwellings 
of branches laid up loosely as a child would build a toy 
camp. 

It was as if each man had built according to his in- 
clination and willingness to labor, the more thrifty 
having log dwellings, and the indolent ones rude huts. 

Even Susan and I could understand that whosoever 



24 



RUTH OF BOSTON 



had decided upon the places where these homes should be 
built, had in mind the making of a large town; for paths, 
like unto streets, led here and there, while all around 
grew trees, not thickly, to be sure, but yet in such 
abundance as to show that all this had lately been a 
wilderness. 

Even in these streets had been left the stumps of 
trees after the trunks were removed, which served to 




give an untidy look to the whole, making it seem as if 
one were in a place where had been built shelters only 
for a little time, and which would shortly be abandoned. 

The welcome which was given us, however, was even 
warmer than we would have received at home in Eng- 
land, and little wonder that these gentlefolk whom we 
had known there, should be overjoyed to see us here. 

Both Susan and I came to understand, not many 



MAKING COMPARSIONS 25 

months afterward, how great can be the pleasure one 
has at seeing old friends whom he had feared never 
to meet again in this world. 

It was a veritable feast which these good people of 
Salem set before us, and yet so strange was the cookery, 
that I am minded to describe later some of the dishes 
at risk of dwelling overly long upon matters of no im- 
portance. 

MAKING COMPARISONS 

Master Winthrop said, when we were going on board 
the ship again, that although it was nothing but peas, 
pudding, and fish, quite coarse as compared with what 
we would have had at home in England, save as to the 
venison pie, it all seemed sweet and wholesome to him. 

When the day was come to an end, we went into the 
ship once more, for there were not spare beds enough 
in all the town to serve for half- our party, and you may 
be very certain that once we were gathered again in the 
great cabin, all talked eagerly concerning what had 
been done; at least our parents did, for it would have 
been unseemly in us children to interrupt while our 
elders were talking. 

Mother was not well satisfied with the houses, be- 
lieving it would be possible to make dwellings more 
like those we left behind; but father bade her have 



26 



RUTH OF BOSTON 



patience, saying that a shelter from the weather was 
the first matter to be thought of, and that the pleasing 
of the eye could well come later, after we had more 
with which to work. 

She, thinking as was I at the moment, of the floor in 
the house. where we ate the venison pie, declared stoutly 




that there would be no more of labor in laying down 
planks, at least in the living-room, than in beating 
the earth hard, as it seemingly had been where we 
visited. 

Then, laughingly, he bade her rest content, nor set 
her mind so strongly upon the vanities of this world, 
saying that if God permitted him to raise a roof, so 
that his wife and child might be sheltered from the sun 



AN INDIAN GUEST AND OTHER VISITORS 27 

and from the rain, he would be satisfied, even though 
the legs of his table stood upon the bare earth. 

It was this conversation between my parents that 
caused the other women to talk of how they would have 
a home built, until Lady Arabella put an end to what 
was almost wrangling, — for each insisted that her plan 
for a dwelling in this New World was the best, — by 
saying that whatsoever God willed we should have, 
and that it would be more than we deserved. 

AN INDIAN GUEST AND OTHER VISITORS 

Both Susan and I had gazed about us eagerly when 
we went on shore, hoping to see a savage. We were not 
bent on meeting him near at hand, where he might do 
us a mischief; but had the desire that a brown man 
might go past at a distance, and we were grievously 
disappointed at coming aboard the ship again without 
having seen one. 

Therefore it is that you can well fancy how sur- 
prised and delighted we were next morning when, 
on going on deck just after breakfast to have another 
look at this new town, whom should we see walking to 
and fro on the quarter-deck with Master Winthrop, as 
if he had been one of the first gentlemen of the land, 
but a real Indian! 

There were the feathers, of which we had heard, 



28 



RUTH OF BOSTON 



encircling his head and ending in a long train behind. 
His skin was brown, or, perhaps, more the color of 
dulled copper. He wore a mantle of fur, with the 

skin tanned soft as cloth, 
and that which father said 
was deer hide cunningly 
treated until it was like to 
flannel, had been fashioned 
into a garment which an- 
swered in the stead of a 
doublet. 

I cannot describe his 
appearance better than by 
saying it would not have 
surprised me, had I been 
told that one of our own peo- 
ple had painted and dressed 
himself in this fanciful fash- 
ion to take part in some 
revel, for truly, save in regard to the color of his skin, 
he was not unlike the gentlemen who were on the ship. 
As Susan and I learned later, he was the king, or 
chief man, among those Indians who called themselves 
Agawams. Father said he was the sagamore, which, 
as I understand it, means that he was at the head of 
his people, and his name was Masconomo. 

A very kindly savage was he, and in no wise blood- 




snr~ 



AN INDIAN GUEST AND OTHER VISITORS 29 

thirsty looking as I had expected. He was a friend of 
Master Endicott as well as of all those who lived with 
him in this town of Salem, and had come to welcome 
our people to the new world, which, as it seemed to 
both Susan and me, was very thoughtful in one who 
was nothing less than a heathen. 

The Indian sagamore stayed on board the ship all day, 
and our company, together with the people of Salem, 
were as careful to make him welcome as if he had been 
King James himself. 

The reason for this, as father afterward explained 
to me, was because of its being of great importance 
that we make friends with the savages, else the time 
might come when they would set about taking our 
lives, being in far greater numbers than the white 
men. 

Neither Susan nor I could believe that there was 
any danger that these people with brown skins would 
ever want to do us harm. Surely they must be pleased, 
we thought, at knowing we were willing to live among 
them, and, besides, if all the savages were as mild looking 
as this Masconomo, they would never be wicked enough 
to commit the awful crime of murder. 

In the evening, after the Indian went ashore, 
the good people of Salem came on board in great 
numbers, and, seeing that it was a time when he 
might do good to their souls, Master Winthrop gathered 



3° 



RUTH OF BOSTON 




us on deck, where 
he talked in a godly 
strain not less than 
an hour and a half. 
It was indeed 
wicked of Susan to 
say that she would 
have been better 
pleased had we 
been allowed to 
chat with the peo- 
ple concerning this 
new land, rather 
than listen to Master Winthrop, who, so mother says, is a 
most gifted preacher even though that is not his calling, 
yet way down in the bottom of my heart I felt much as 
did Susan, although, fortunately, I was not tempted 
to give words to the thought. 



A CHRISTENING AND A DINNER 



When another day came, we girls had a most delight- 
ful time, for there was to be a baby baptized in the 
house of logs where are held the meetings, and Mistress 
White, one of the gentlefolks who came here with the 
company of Master Higginson, was to give a dinner 
because of her young son's having lived to be christened. 



A CHRISTENING AND A DINNER 



To both these festivals Susan and I were bidden, anc 
it surprised me not a little to see so much of gaiety in 
this New World, where I had supposed every one went 
around in fear and trembling lest the savages should 
come to take their lives. 

The christening was attended to first, as a matter 
of course, and, because of his having so lately arrived 
from England, Master Winthrop was called upon to 
speak to the people, which he did at great length. 
Although the baby, 
in stiff dress and mit- 
tens of linen, with his 
cap of cotton wadded 
thickly with wool, 
must have been very 
uncomfortable on ac- 
count of the heat, he 
made but little outcry 
during all this cere- 
mony, or even when 
Master Higginson 
prayed a very long 
time. 

We were not above 
two hours in the meetinghouse, and then went to the 
home of Mistress White, getting there just as she came 
down from the loft with her young son in her arms. 




32 RUTH OF BOSTON 

Mother was quite shocked because of the baby's 
having nothing in his hands, and while she is not given 
to placing undue weight in beliefs which savor of 
heathenism, declares that she never knew any good 
to come of taking a child up or down in the house 
without having first placed silver or gold between his 
fingers. 

Of course it is not so venturesome to bring a child 
down stairs empty-handed; but to take him back for 
the first time without something of value in his little 
fist, is the same as saying that he will never rise in the 
world to the gathering of wealth. 

The dinner was much enjoyed by both Susan and me, 
even though the baby, who seemed to be frightened 
because of seeing so many strange faces, cried a goodly 
part of the time. 

We had wild turkey roasted, and it was as pleasing a 
morsel as ever I put in my mouth. Then there was a 
huge pie of deer meat, with baked and fried fish in 
abundance, and lobsters so large that there was not a 
trencher bowl on the board big enough to hold a whole 
one. We had whitpot, yokhegg, suquatash, and many 
other Indian dishes, the making of which shall be ex- 
plained as soon as I have learned the methods. 

It was a most enjoyable feast, and the good people 
of Salem were so friendly that when we went on board 
ship that night, Susan and I were emboldened to say 






DECIDING UPON A HOME 



33 



to my father, that we should be rejoiced when the time 
arrived for our company to build houses. 



DECIDING UPON A HOME 



Then we learned for the first time that it had not 
been the plan of our people to settle in this pleasant 
place. It was not to the mind of Governor Winthrop, 
nor yet in accord with the belief of our people in Eng- 
land, that all of us who were to form what would be 
known as the Massa- 
chusetts Bay Colony, 
should build our 
homes in one spot. 

Therefore it was 
that our people, 
meaning the elders 
among the men, set 
off through the forest 
to search for a spot 
where should be made 
a new town, and we 
children were allowed 
to roam around the 
village of Salem at 
will, many of us, 
among whom were 

RUTH OF BOSTON 3 







34 RUTH OF BOSTON 

Susan and I, often spending the night in the houses 
of those people who were so well off in this world's 
goods as to have more than one bed. 

Lady Arabella Johnson and her husband had gone on - 
shore to live the second day after we arrived, for my 
lady was far from well when she left England, and the 
voyage across the ocean had not been of benefit to 
her. 

Our fathers were not absent above three days in the 
search for a place to make our homes, and then Sarah 
and I were told that it had been decided we should 
live at Charlestown, where, as I have already told you, 
a year before our coming, Master Endicott hap! sent 
a company of fifty to build houses. 

It pleased me to know that we were not going directly 
into the wilderness, as both Susan and I had feared; 
but that we should be able to find shelter with the people 
who had already settled there, until our own houses 
could be built. 

It appeared that all the men of our company were 
not of Governor Winthrop's opinion, regarding the place 
for a home. Some of them, discontented with the 
town of Charles, went further afoot, deciding to settle 
on the banks of a river called the Mystic, while yet 
others crossed over that point of land opposite where 
we were to live, and found a pleasing place which they 
had already named Rocksbury. 



A SAD LOSS 35 



A SAD LOSS 



Susan and I believed, on the night our fathers came 
back from their journey, that we would set off in the 
ship to this village of Charlestown without delay, and 
so we might have done but for my Lady Arabella, who 
was taken suddenly worse of her sickness; therefore 
it was decided to wait until she had gained her health. 

But alas! the poor lady had come to this New World 
only to die, and it was a sad time indeed for Susan and 
me when the word was brought aboard ship that she 
had gone out from among us forever. 

We had learned during the voyage to love her very 
dearly, and it seemed even more of a blow for God to 
take her from us in this wilderness, than if she had 
been at her home in England. 

Although it is not right for me to say so, because, 
of course, our fathers know best, yet would my heart 
have been less sore if some word of farewell could have 
been said when we laid my Lady Arabella in the grave 
amid the thicket of fir trees. 

Mother says, that she is but repeating the words 
of Governor Winthrop, that it is wrong to say prayers 
over the dead, or to utter words of grief or faith. There- 
fore it was in silence we followed my lady in the cofhn 
made by the ship's carpenter, up the gentle slope to 



36 



RUTH OF BOSTON 



the thicket of firs, the bell of the Arabella tolling all the 
while; and in silence we stood, while the body was being 
covered with earth, little thinking how soon should we 
be doing a like service for another who had come to 
aid in building up a new nation. 

On the day after we left my Lady Arabella on the 
hillside, the ship Talbot, which was one of the vessels 
that should have sailed in company with the Arabella, 
arrived at Salem, and the grief which filled our hearts 

for the dead, was 
lightened some- 
what by the joy in 
greeting the living 
who were come to 
join us. 

REJOICING TURNED 
INTO MOURNING 

Governor Win- 
throp was among 
those who seem- 
ingly had most 
cause for rejoicing, because of his son Henry's having 
arrived on the Talbot, bringing news of his mother 
and of the remainder of the family. 

Good Master Winthrop had so much of business to 




REJOICING TURNED INTO MOURNING 37 



look after on this day, that he 
could not spend many moments 
in talking with his son, and 
mayhap he will never 
cease to regret that he 
did not give his first at- 
tention to the boy, for, 
during the afternoon, 
while his father was en- 
gaged with public affairs, 
Henry was moved by 
curiosity to visit some 
Indian wigwams which 
could be seen a long dis- 
tance along the coast. 

Not being of the mind to walk so far, he cast about 
for a boat of some kind, and, seeing a canoe across the 
creek, plunged into the water to swim over that he 
might get it. 

Susan and I were watching the brave young man 
when he sprang so boldly and confidently into the water, 
never dreaming that harm might come to him, and 
yet before he was one quarter way across the creek, 
he suddenly flung up his arms with a stifled cry. 
Then he sank from our sight, to be seen no more 
alive. 

He had been seized with a cramp, while swimming most- 




%i 



3 S RUTH OF BOSTON 

like because of having gone into the cold water heated, 
so my father said, for the day was very warm; 
but however that may be, eight and forty hours later 
we walked, a mournful procession, up the hill, even as 
we had done behind the earthly clay of Lady-Arabella, 
while the bells of the ships in the harbor tolled most 
dismally. 

Verily Governor Winthrop's strength is in the Lord, 
as my mother said, for although his heart must have 
been near to bursting with grief, no one saw a sign of 
sorrow on his face, so set and stern, as he stood them 
listening to the clods of earth that were thrown upon 
the box in which lay the body of his son. 

Susan, who is overly given to superstition, I am afraid, 
declared that it was an ill omen for us to have two 
die when we had but just come into the new country, 
and when I told her that it was wicked to place one's 
faith in si'gns, she reminded me that I found fault 
because of Mistress White's baby's being taken out of 
the room for the first time with neither gold nor silver 
in his hands. 

THANKSGIVING DAY IN JULY 

The ship Success, which was also of our fleet, having 
been left behind when we sailed from England, came 
into the harbor on the sixth of July, and then it was, 



LEAVING SALEM FOR CHARLESTOWN 



39 



although our hearts were bowed down with grief be- 
cause of the death of Lady Arabella and the drowning 
of Henry Winthrop, that our people decided we should 
hold a service of thanksgiving to God because of His 
having permitted all our company to arrive in safety. 

Word was sent to the people of Charlestown, and to 
those few men in the settlement which is called Dor- 
chester, that they might join with us in the service of 
praise, and many came to Salem to hear the preaching 
of Master Endicott, 
Master Higginson, 
and Governor Win- 
throp. 

LEAVING SALEM 
FOR CHARLESTOWN 

Four days later, 
which is the same 
as if I said on the 
twelfth of July, the 
fleet of ships sailed 
out of Salem har- 
bor with those of our people on board who could 
not bear the fatigue of walking, to go up to the new 
village of Charlestown. 

Before night was come, we were at anchor off that 




4 o RUTH OF BOSTON 

place where we believed the remainder of our days on 
this earth would be spent. 

Because of the labor performed by those men whom 
Master Endicott had sent to this place a year before, 
there were five or six log houses which could be used 
by some of our people, and the governor's dwelling, 
which of course would be the most lofty in the town, 
was partially set up; yet the greater number of us did 
not go on shore immediately to live. 

Governor Winthrop remained on board the Arabella, 
as did my parents and Susan's, and now because there 
is little of interest to set down regarding the building of 
the village, am I minded to tell that which I heard our 
fathers talking about evening after evening, as we sat in 
the great cabin when the day's work was done. 

To you who have never gone into the wilderness to 
make a home, the anxiety which people in our condition 
felt concerning their neighbors cannot be understood. 
To us, if all we heard regarding what the savages might 
do against us was true, it was of the greatest importance 
we should know who were settled near at hand, if it 
so came that we were driven out from our town. 

OUR NEIGHBORS 

Now you must know that many years before, which is 
much the same as if I had said in the year of our Lord, 



OUR NEIGHBORS 



4i 



1620, a number of English people who had been living 
in Holland because of their consciences not permitting 
them to worship God in a manner according to the 

Church of England, came over 
to this country, and built a 
town which was called Ply- 
mouth. 

This town was not far by 
water from our settlement ; in- 
deed, one might have sailed 
there in a shallop, if he 
were so minded, and, in 
case the wind served 
well, perform the voy- 
age between daylight 
and sunset. 

It was, as I have said, 
settled ten years before 
we came to this new world, and the inhabitants now 
numbered about three hundred. There were sixty-eight 
dwelling houses, a fort well built with wood, earth and 
stone, and a fair watch tower. Entirely around the town 
was a stout palisade, by which I mean a fence made of 
logs that stand eight or ten feet above the surface, and 
placed so closely together that an enemy may not make 
his way between them, and in all respects was it a 
goodly village, so my father declared. 




42 RUTH OF BOSTON 

Near the mouth of the Neponset river Sir Christopher 
Gardner, who was not one of our friends in a reli- 
gious way, had settled with a small company, and farther 
down the coast, many miles away, it was said were 
three other villages; but none among them could 
outshine Salem, either in numbers of people, or in 
dwellings. 

When we were on the shore in Charlestown, looking 
straight out over the water toward the nearest land, we 
could see, not above two miles away, three hills which 
were standing close to each other, and Master Thomas 
Graves, who had taken charge of the people that 
first settled in the town of Charles, had named the 
place Trimountain ; but the Indians called it Shawmut. 
There only one white man was living and his name 
was Master William Blackstone, as I have already 
told you. 

It seemed to me a fairer land, because of the hills 
and dales, than was our settlement, and yet it would 
not have been seemly for me to say so much, after 
our fathers and mothers had decided this was the place 
where we were to live. 

GETTING SETTLED 

The days which followed our coming to Charles- 
town were busy ones, even to us women folks, for there 



GETTINCl SETTLED 



43 



was much to be done 
in taking the belong- 
ings ashore, or in help- 
ing our neighbors to 
set to rights their new 
dwellings. 

The Great House, 
in which Governor Win- 
throp would live, was 
finished first, and into 
this were moved as 
many of our people as 
it would hold. 

Then again, there 
were others who, not 
content with staying 

on the Arabella after having remained on board 
of her so long, put up huts like unto the wigwams 
made by the Indians, which, while the weather con- 
tinued to be so warm, served fairly well as places in 
which to live. 

If I said that we made shift to get lodgings on shore 
in whatsoever manner came most convenient for the 
moment, I should only be stating the truth, for some 
indeed were lodged in an exceeding odd and interest- 
ing fashion. 

Susan's father, going back some little distance from 




44 



RUTH OF BOSTON 



the Great House, cut away the trees in such a manner 
as to leave four standing in the form of a square, and 

from one to another 
of these he nailed 
small logs, topped 
with a piece of sail 
cloth that had been 
brought on shore 
from the Talbot, fin- 
ishing the sides with 
branches of trees, 
sticks, and even two 
of his wife's best 
bed quilts. Into this 
queer home Susan went with her 
mother, while my parents were 
content to use one of the rooms in the Great House 
until father could build for us a dwelling of logs. 




THE GREAT SICKNESS 



It seemed much as if Susan was in the right, when she 
said that the deaths of Lady Arabella and Henry Win- 
throp were ill omens, because no sooner had all our people 
landed from the ships, or come up through the forest 
from Salem, than a great sickness raged among us. 

Many had been ill during the voyage with what 



THE GREAT SICKNESS 45 

Master Higginson called scurvy, which is a disease 
that attacks people who have lived long on salted 
food, and again many others took to their beds with a 
sickness caused by the lack of pure, fresh water. 

Our fathers had but just begun to build up this new 
town when it was as if the hand of God had been laid 
heavily upon us, for, so it was said, no't more than one 
out of every five of our people was able to perform any 
work whatsoever. 

Those were long, dismal, dreadful days, when at 
each time of rising in the morning we learned that this 
friend or that neighbor had gone out from among us, 
and it seemed to Susan and me as if there were a con- 
stant succession of funerals, with not even the tolling 
of bells to mark the passage of a body from its poor 
home to its last resting place on earth, for by this time 
the ships had gone out of the harbor. 

The erraves on the side of the hill increased tenfold 
faster than did the dwellings, and all of us, even the 
children, felt that our only recourse now was to pray 
God that He would remove the curse, for of a verity 
did it seem as if one had been placed upon us. 

Again and again did I hear men and women who had 
ever been devout and regular in their attendance upon 
the preaching, ask if we had not offended the Lord by 
breaking off from the English church, or if we might not 
have committed some sin in thus abandoning the land 



4 6 



RUTH OF BOSTON 



of our birth, thinking to ourselves that we would build 
up a new nation in the world. 

Therefore it was that even Susan and I felt a certain 
relief of mind, when Governor Winthrop set the 
thirtieth day of July as a day of fasting and of prayer; 
and in order that all the English people who had come 
into this portion of the New World might unite with us 
in begging God to remove the calamity from our midst, 
word was sent even as far as Plymouth, asking that 
every one meet on that day with words of devout 
petition. 

MOVING THE TOWN 



I have no doubt, because of mother's having said so 
again and again, that the good Lord heard our fervent 

entreaties, although the 
sickness was not re- 
moved from among us 
for near to six weeks. 

Then it was that 
Master William Black- 
stone came across from 
Trimountain, and told 
Governor Winthrop it 
was his belief we should 
do more toward aiding 




MOVING THE TOWN 47 

ourselves than simply praying. He advised, because of 
there being plenty of good water in Trimountain, that 
we forsake this village of Charlestown, and go across 
to the opposite shore. 

I might set down many words, repeating what I heard 
our fathers say concerning the wisdom of such a move, 
and yet this story which I am telling would not be im- 
proved thereby, for the day finally came when it was 
decided that, even at the cost of building new dwellings, 
we should take all our belongings across the water to the 
cove, back of which was a small hill, and, yet further 
behind, a circle of mountains. 

The cove would make an agreeable harbor for our 
boats; the hill straight behind it would serve as a lo- 
cation for a fort, while here and there were pleasant 
streams, or gushing springs, whereas in Charlestown 
we had only the water of the river, or from the marsh. 

That I may not weary you by much explaining, it 
is best I say that on the seventeenth of September, 
when the sun had risen, we gathered at the Great 
House to pray that God would bless us in this which 
was much the same as our second undertaking, for 
without delay, and before night had come, we were to 
go across the bay and make for ourselves other homes. 

And now lest it seem as if I were telling the same 
story twice, I will not set down anything concerning the 
building of this second village, because of that which 



48 RUTH OF BOSTON 

we did in Trimountain being the same as had been 
done in Charlestown. 

The Great House was taken apart and carried across 
the water, as were also the dwellings of logs, and while 
this was being done, the women and children stayed in 
Charlestown, where Master Thomas Graves had made, 
what seemed to Susan and me, odd rules and regula- 
tions. 

MASTER GRAVES PROHIBITS SWIMMING 

He had been placed in command of the settlement 
by Master Endicott, and among his first acts was the 
appointment of tithing men, one of whose duties it was 
to prevent the boys from swimming in the water, as 
some lads of our company speedily learned when they 
would have enjoyed such sport. 

They were arrested straightway, and but for the fact 
of being strangers, who were not acquainted with the 
rules of the settlement, would have been fined three 
shillings each. 

Susan and I had no desire to spend our time swim- 
ming, even had it been seemly for girls so to do; but 
during very warm days it would have pleased us much 
to go down into the water, properly clad, in order to take 
a bath. Therefore did we believe Master Graves had 
done that which was almost cruel, and it surprised us 



ANNA FOSTER'S PARTY 



49 



no little when, later, our own fathers passed the same 
law. 



ANNA FOSTER S PARTY 



There were- good friends of ours in England who 
believed that we had come into a wilderness where was 
to be found naught save savages and furious beasts, 
and it would have surprised them greatly, I believe, if 
they could have known how much of entertainment 
could already be found. 

It was while we were waiting in Charlestown for the 
homes in Trimountain to be built, that Anna Foster, 

whose father is one of the 
tithing-men, invited all of us 
young girls who had come 
under Governor Winthrop's 
charge, to spend an 
evening with her, 
and we had much 
pleasure in playing 
hunt the whistle and 
thread the needle. 

Anna was dressed 
in a yellow coat with 
black bib and apron, 
and she had black 
feathers on her head. 




RllTH OF BOSTON 



50 RUTH OF BOSTON 

She wore both garnet and jet beads, with a locket, 
and no less than four rings. There was a black collar 
around her neck, black mitts on her hands, and a 
striped tucker and ruffles. Her shoes were of silk, 
and one would have said that she was dressed for 
some evening entertainment in London. 

Neither Susan nor I wore our best, because of the 
candles here being made from a kind of tallow stewed 
out of bayberry plums, which give forth much 
smoke, and mother was afraid this would soil our 
clothing. We were also told that because of there not 
being candles enough, some parts of the house would be 
lighted with candle-wood, which last is taken from the 
pitch pine tree, and fastened to the walls with nails. This 
wood gives forth a fairly good light; but there drops 
from it so much of a black, greasy substance, that 
whosoever by accident should stand beneath these 
flames would be in danger of receiving a most dis- 
agreeable shower. 

This entertainment was not the only one which 
was made for our pleasure while we remained in 
Charlestown; but because of the sickness everywhere 
around, very little in the way of merrymaking was 
indulged in, and it seemed almost a sin for us to 
be thus light-hearted while so many were in sore 
distress. 






THE TOWN OF BOSTON 51 



THE TOWN OF BOSTON 

The first thing which was done by the governor and 
his advisors, after we had moved from Charlestown, 
was to change the name of Trimountain to that of 
Boston. 

As you must remember, Boston in England was near 
to the home of Captain John Smith, who explored so 
much of this New World and planted in Jamestown a 
prosperous settlement. It was also in Boston that the 
Lady Arabella, and the preacher, John Cotton, who had 
promised to come here to us, had lived; therefore did it 
seem as if such were the proper name for a town which 
we hoped would one day, God willing, grow to be a 
city. 

It is true our new village is built in a rocky place, 
where are many hollows and swamps, and it is almost 
an island, because the neck of land which leads from it 
to the main shore, is so narrow that very often does the 
tide wash completely over it; but yet, after that time 
of suffering in Charlestown, it seems to us a goodly 
spot. 

Our dwellings, except the Great House, are made of 
logs, and the roofs thatched with dried marsh-grass, or 
with the bark of trees. That each man shall have so 
much of this thatching as he may need, the governor and 



52 



RUTH OF BOSTON 



chief men of the village have set aside a certain portion 
of the salt marsh nearby, where any one may go to 
reap that which is needed for his own dwelling ; but no 
more. 

In time to come, so father says, we shall have chim- 
neys built of brick or stone, for when our settlement is 







B&> ^ri:-%§r 



,/ 









w 



M 



i*^' 



older grown some of the people will, in order to gain a 
livelihood, set about making bricks, and already has 
Governor Winthrop sent out men to search for lime- 
stone so we may get mortar. But until that time shall 
come, we have on the outside of our houses what are 
called chimneys, which are made of logs plastered with 
clay, or of woven reeds besmeared both as to the out- 
side and the inside with mud, until they are five or six 
inches thick. 



GUARDING AGAINST FIRES 53 



GUARDING AGAINST FIRES 

It needs not for me to say that these chimneys are 
most unsafe, for during our first winter in this new 
town of Boston, hardly a week passed but that one or 
another caught fire ; and among the first laws which our 
people passed was one providing for the appointment 
of firewardens, who should have the right, and be 
obliged, to visit every kitchen, looking up into the 
chimneys to see if peradventure the plastering of clay 
had been burned away. 

Because of the number of these fires, and the likeli- 
hood that they would continue to visit us frequently, 
another law was made, obliging every man who owned 
a dwelling of logs to keep a ladder standing nearby, so 
that it might be easy to get at the thatched roof if the 
flames fastened upon it; and, as soon as might be, 
iron hooks with large handles were made to be hung 
on the outside of the buildings, for the purpose of 
tearing off the thatch when it was burning. 

It has also been decided that when we have a church, 
as we count on within a year, a goodly supply of ladders 
and buckets shall be kept therein for the use of the en- 
tire town, and then, when a fire springs out, our people 
will know where to go for tools with which to fight 
against it. 



54 RUTH OF BOSTON 



OUR OWN NEW HOME 

It must not be supposed that because of our dwellings 
being unsightly on the outside, they are rough within, 
for such is not the case. Many of the settlers, as did 
father, brought over glass for the windows, therefore 
we are not forced to put up with oiled paper, as are a 
great many people living in this New World. 

It was partly the dampness inside our homes, so 
Governor Winthrop believed, which caused the sickness 
in Charlestown, and therefore it was that my father 
insisted we should have a floor of wood, instead of 
striving to get along with bare ground which had been 
beaten hard. Our floor is made of planks, roughly 
hewn, it is true, but nevertheless it serves to keep our 
feet from the ground. We have on the door real iron 
hinges, instead of leather, or the skins of animals, as we 
saw in Salem. 

Save for the roughness of the floor and the walls, 
the inside of my father's house is much the same as we 
had in England, for he, like all of Governor Winthrop's 
company who were able to do so, brought over the 
furnishings of the old home, and while some of the 
things look sadly out of place here, they provide us 
with a certain comfort which would have passed un- 
heeded in the other country, because there we were not 






OUR OWN NEW HOME 



55 



much better off in this world's goods than were our 
neighbors. 

Here, when I see a table made only of rough boards 
spread upon trestles, I can get much pleasure out of 
the knowledge that we brought with us those tables 
which we had been using in England, and, when our 




A^ 



" : 



r'^i^fM'-- 







if ■ - - **-^r rmLL' I 










dinner is spread, save for the difference in the food, I 
can well fancy myself in the old home. We have our 
ware of pewter and of copper, and our trencher bowls 
are of the best that can be hewn from maple knots. 

In order that the walls and crevices, rilled with moss 
and plastered over with clay, may not offend the eye, 



56 RUTH OF BOSTON 

mother has put up all the hangings which she brought 
with her, and these, with some skins my father bought 
at Salem, hide entirely that which is so unsightly in 
other dwellings. 

Contrasting our home with many which we saw in 
Salem, or in Charlestown, I am come to believe my 
lines are truly cast in pleasant places, and I strive to be 
thankful to God for having given me the father which 
I have. 



THE FASHION OF THE DAY 

I am afraid it may be almost sinful for me so to set 
my mind upon the garments which one wears, and yet 
I cannot but contrast my father with some of the com- 
mon men in the village. 

The ruff which he wears around his neck is always 
well starched, clean, and stands out in beautiful pro- 
portions. On his low, peaked shoes, mother ever has 
fixed rosettes, or knots made of ribbon. His doublet, 
which is gathered around the waist with a silken belt, 
is slashed on the sleeves to show the snowy linen be- 
neath. His trunk hose, meaning those which reach 
from his waist to his knees, are of the finest wool. His 
stockings, when he is dressed to meet with the Council, 
are of silk, while his mandilion, or cloak, is always of 
silk or velvet. 



THE FASHION OF THE DAY 



57 




Perhaps one may think such attire hardly befitting 
a wild place like this, yet I know of nothing which 
serves to set off a man's figure, making him seem 
of importance in the world, better than that he be 
clad with due regard to the 
fashion of the day. Master Win- 
throp would not present the 
gentlemanly appearance which 
he does if he wore, 
as do the common 
people here, a band, 
or a flat collar with 
cord and tassels, 
breeches of leather, 
and a leather girdle around 
his waist. If he had, as do 
they, heavy shoes with heels 
of wood, or if his clothing were 
fastened together with hooks and eyes, instead of silken 
points, and if his hat were of leather, would we be 
pleased to call him Governor ? 

My mother often says that it is unseemly in a child 
like me to speak of the clothing worn by gentlemen, 
and yet I have noticed often and again, that she is as 
careful of my father's attire when he goes out of doors 
as she was at home in England, where all gentlemen 
were dressed becomingly. 




58 



RUTH OF BOSTON 



Verily one need not go abroad in tatters, or oddities, 
simply because of having come into this New World, 
where much of work is required, and he who cares for 
his personal appearance, to my way of thinking, is to 
be given due credit. 

Surely so the Massachusetts Bay Company thought, 
for they furnished to every man who came from Eng- 
land to settle here, save it be those who could afford 
such things for themselves, four pairs of shoes and the 
same number of stockings; four shirts; two suits of 
doublet, and hose of leather lined with oiled skin; a 
woolen suit, lined with leather, together with four bands 
and two handkerchiefs, a green cot- 
ton waistcoat, two pairs of gloves, 
a leather belt, a woolen cap and two 
red knit caps, a mandilion lined 
with cotton, and also an extra pair 
of breeches. Of course such an 
outfit was for the common people, 
not the gentlefolk. 

In our company, the boys are 
clothed exactly as are their fathers, 
and many of them present a most 
attractive appearance, although my 
mother would not think it proper 
for me to say so, much less to put 
it down in writing. 




MY OWN WARDROBE 59 



MY OWN WARDROBE 

Tt surely cannot be wrong for me to think of that 
which I wear, for if the good Lord has given me a 
comely body, why shall I not array it properly? Or 
if it be wrong, why did my father buy for me those 
things, a list of which I am here setting down, not 
from vanity, but simply to show how kind were my 
parents ? 

I had a cap ruffle and a tucker, the lace of which 
cost five shillings a yard; eight pairs of white kid gloves, 
with two pairs of colored gloves, two pairs of worsted 
hose and three pairs of thread, a pair of laced silk 
shoes, and a pair of morocco shoes, not to speak of 
four pairs of plain Spanish shoes, or two pairs made of 
calf-skin for every day use; a hoop coat and a mask to 
wear when the wind blows too roughly, and a fan for 
use when the sun is hot. Susan had two necklaces, 
one of garnet and one of jet; but I had only garnets. 
Then I have a girdle with a buckle of silver; a mantle 
and coat of lutestring; a piece of calico to be made up 
when mother has time; four yards of ribbon for knots 
or bows, and one and one-half yards of best cambric. 
All these were bought especially for me when we left 
home, and surely it can be no sin that I take pride in 
them. 



60 RUTH OF BOSTON 

MASTER JOHNSON'S DEATH 

It was shortly after coming to this town of Boston 
that we heard of the death of Master Johnson, Lady 
Arabella's husband. A friendly man was he, ever 
ready with a kindly word for us children, and we would 
have mourned his loss much more, but for knowing 
that it pleased him right well to go out of this world of 
sorrow, that he might join his wife in God's country. 

Susan and I had hoped we should hear of no more 
deaths among those we cared for, after having come 
into this last place of abode, and the news of Master 
Johnson's taking away caused her superstitious fears 
to break out anew; but I reminded her that we were in 
God's keeping, whatsoever might befall, and that for 
us to look forward into the morrow, searching for evil, 
was the same as an injustice to our Maker, who would 
do toward us whatsoever seemed good in His sight. 

As I look back now upon the time when our town 
of Boston first came into being, I can understand how 
well it is for us that we may not read the future. Had 
we at that time, when the winter was coming on, known 
how much of sorrow and of suffering was in store for us, 
before the earth would be freed from its bonds of ice, 
then I believe of a verity we must have given up in 
despair. 



MANY NEW KINDS OF FOOD 



61 



However, it is not for me to look ahead even in this 
poor attempt at setting down what we did in the new 
land. Rather let me go back to our home life, and tell 
somewhat concerning the odd dishes which were fre- 
quently set on our table. 

MANY NEW KINDS OF FOOD 



~*^X 



There is little need for me to say that we had lobsters 
in abundance, and of such enormous size that one was 
put to it to lift them. I have heard it said that twenty- 
pound weight was 
not unusual, and 



whosoever might 
could catch, in traps 
made for the pur- 
pose, all the lobsters 
he would. 

As for other fish, 
I can not set down on one page of this paper, 
the many kinds with which the housewife might 
provide herself for a trifling sum of money. We 
often had eels roasted, fried, or boiled, because of 
father's being very fond of them, and mother some- 
times stuffed them with nutmegs and cloves, making a 
dish which was not to my liking, for it was hot to the 
tongue. 




62 RUTH OF BOSTON 

Some of the good wives in Salem had shown my 
mother how to prepare nassaump, which those who 
first came to Salem learned from the Indians how to 
make. It is nothing but corn beaten into small pieces, 
and boiled until soft, after which it is eaten hot, or cold, 
with milk or butter. 

Nookick is to my mind more of a dainty than a sub- 
stantial food, and yet father declares that on a very 
small quantity of it, say three great spoonfuls a day, a 
man may travel or work without loss of strength. It 
is made by parching the Indian corn in hot ashes, and 
then beating it to a powder. Save for the flavor lent 
to it by the roasting, I can see no difference between 
nookick, and the meal made from the ground corn. 

Mother makes whitpot of oat meal, milk, sugar and 
spice, which is much to my taste, although father de- 
clares it is not unlike oatmeal porridge such as is eaten 
in some parts of England; but it hardly seems to me 
possible, because of one's not putting sugar and spice 
into porridge. 

We often have bread made of pumpkins boiled soft, 
and mixed with the meal from Indian corn, and this 
father much prefers to the bread of rye with the meal of 
corn ; but the manner of cooking pumpkins most to my 
liking, is to cut them into small pieces, when they are 
ripe, and stew during one whole day upon a gentle fire, 
adding fresh bits of pumpkin as the mass softens. If 



MANY NEW KINDS OF FOOD 



63 



this be steamed enough, it will look much like unto 
baked apples, and, dressed with a little vinegar and 
ginger, is to me a most tempting rarity. But we do not 
often have it upon the table because of so much labor 
being needed to prepare it. 

Yokhegg is a pudding of which I am exceedingly 
fond, and yet it is made of meal from the same Indian 
corn that supplies the people hereabout with so much of 
their food. It is 
boiled in milk and 
chocolate, sweetened 
to suit one's taste 
after being put on 
the table, and while to 
English people, who 
are not accustomed 
to all the uses which 
we make of this 
wheat, it may not 
sound especially in- 
viting, it most truly is 
a toothsome dainty. 

The cost of setting one's table here is not great as 
compared with that in England, for we may get a quart 
of milk by paying a penny, or a dozen fat pigeons, in 
the season, for three pence, while father has more than 
once bought wild turkeys, to the weight of thirty pounds, 




^J; 



64 RUTH OF BOSTON 

for two shillings, and wild geese are worth but eight 
pence. 

THE SUPPLY OF FOOD 

The season had come when, if we had been in Eng- 
land, the people would have been gathering the harvest; 
but nere we had none, having come so late in the year 
that there was no time to plant, and, consequently, we 
had no crops. 

I had never before realized how necessary it is for 
people that the earth shall yield in abundance; but I 
came to know it now right well through hearing father, 
as he talked with mother regarding the fears which the 
chief men of the colony had concerning the supply of 
food. 

Of course, girls such as Susan and I would not have 
been likely to learn anything of the kind, save that 
matters had come to such a pass as made the situation 
serious, in which case it was no more than natural we 
should hear our parents talking about it. 

It seems, from what I learned, that a portion of the 
provisions brought from England were spoiled during 
the voyage, and also, that many of our people had 
taken with them no more than enough to sustain life 
for a month or two, believing that in this New World 
food of all kinds would be found in abundance. 



THE SUPPLY OF FOOD 65 

Then again, many had bartered provisions, which 
they should have kept for the winter use, with the In- 
dians in exchange for beaver skins, thinking thereby to 
make much money. So general had this traffic be- 
come, that early in September the Governor gave strict 
orders against it, and it was also ordered that no per- 
son in the town be allowed to carry out therefrom 
anything eatable. 

But yet the store of food grew smaller and smaller, 
for there were many mouths to feed, and it seemed as 
if we children were more often hungry because of know- 
ing that. there was little to be had. 

Susan reminded me of what she was pleased to call 
the "omen," when it was as if the first of our duties in 
the New World had been to bury two members of the 
company, and as the days wore on I began really to 
believe it a sin to harbor such thoughts. 

As it had been in Charlestown, so did it come to be 
here in Boston, when the rains of autumn set in. 

Many of the dwellings had not been built with due 
regard to sheltering those who were to live therein, and 
because of the dampness — although mother says it 
was owing quite as well to the homesickness and gloom 
which came upon us when the leaves in the forest 
turned brown, and yellow, and golden in token of the 
dying year — the people sickened. 

However it was, much of sickness prevailed among 

RUTH OF BOSTON C 



66 



RUTH OF BOSTON 



us in Boston, until the time came when my father and 
mother, to both of whom God had allowed good health, 

were absent from 
day 



home day after 
day, nursing those 
of our neighbors 
who were unable 
to aid themselves. 

THE SAILING OF 
THE "LYON" 

It seemed at this 
time as if the Lord 
had set His face 
against the rearing 
of a nation in this 
new land, which he had given to the brown men for their 
homes, and Susan and I were not the only ones who 
came to believe we were offending Him in some way 
by thus having come here. 

Then Governor Winthrop caused it to be known 
throughout the town that he had hired Captain 
Pierce, of the ship Lyon, which was then in Salem 
Harbor, to go with all haste to the nearest town in 
England, there to get for us as much of food as could 
be bought. 




THE FAMINE 



67 



This news cheered the people somewhat, for now was 
the season when the winds blew strong, and it was 
believed the ship would have speedy passage. In- 
deed, some of the women declared she must return 
before the middle of October, and said so much con- 
cerning such possibility, that in time they came to be- 
lieve it true. Therefore, when the month of October 
had nearly passed, their disappointment was great, and 
they were more despondent than at first. 

THE FAMINE 



Each day saw 
the store of pro- 
visions in the town 
grow smaller. 
Every family hus- 
banded that which 
could be eaten, 
with greatest care, 
putting no more on 
the table than was 
absolutely nec- 
essary for a single 
meal, and those 
things which we 
had considered dainties, were no longer prepared. 




68 RUTH OF BOSTON 

Then came the Angel of Death, and man after man, 
woman after woman, laid themselves down to die, not 
from being starved, but, so Governor Winthrop de- 
clared, from having sickened through scurvy, which had 
come upon them during the voyage, after which, falling 
into discontent and giving way to home-sickness, they 
no longer struggled to live. 

Before October had come to an end, food was so 
scarce in Boston that the poorer people, had nothing 
save acorns, clams, and mussels to eat. During the 
summer it had seemed as if the sea were actually filled 
with fish, and yet now, when every boat that could be 
found in the town and nearby had been sent out, it was 
difficult for our men to take even fifty pounds weight 
in a day. 

As Susan said, even the fish forsook us, as the clams 
and mussels would have done had they legs or fins. 

The fowls of the forest also appeared to have depart- 
ed, and by November the most any family could boast 
of was meal boiled in salt and water. In more happy 
days I would have turned up my nose at such food, and 
yet now it was like unto some sweet morsel, for so 
scanty had our store become that my mother would 
cook for each meal no more than half as much as we 
could have eaten. 

I have heard father say that for a bushel of flour 
which had been brought from England, he paid in 



THE SEARCH FOR FOOD 



69 



those dark clays fourteen shillings, and there was so little 
of it even at such price, that mother saved what store we 
had that it might be made into gruel, or something 
dainty, which the sick could keep upon their stomachs. 



THE SEARCH FOR FOOD 



Then it was that our pinnace was made ready for a voy- 
age, and with five of the strongest men on board, was sent 
along the coast to trade with those Indians who called 
themselves Narragansetts, taking with them everything 
in the way of trinkets which was in the general store, 
or could be gathered up from among the housewives. 




7 o RUTH OF BOSTON 

Great was our rejoicing, five days later, when the 
men came back, bringing with them an hundred bushels 
of Indian corn. This seemed like a large amount 
of food, and yet, so many were the mouths to be fed 
from it, it was, so father said, scarce enough to hold 
life in our bodies three days, if so be it had been divided 
equally among all. 

Father told us that three men, who were of the 
poorer people, had walked all the way from Boston 
town to Plymouth; but even there, where a harvest had 
been gathered, they could get no more than one half- 
bushel of meal made from Indian corn. 

It was a time of famine such as I pray God we may 
never know again. In my home, until these dreary 
days, there had been no scarcity of food, and yet again 
and again did I save a crust of rye bread, thinking it a 
dainty to be nibbled upon slowly so that I might have 
longer the pleasure of eating. 

THE STARVATION TIME 

It was as if the ship Lyon, on whose return a few 
weeks before we had counted so hopefully, was gone, 
never to come back. 

Even the children watched the direction of the 
winds, saying on this day that it was a favoring one 
if the Lyon were on her course for Boston, and on 



THE STARVATION TIME 71 

the morrow mourning because of the breeze being 
against her. 

Yet she came not, nor did we hear aught concerning 
her, or any other from the world beyond us. 

We were alone in what was much the same as a 
wilderness, and all those around upon whom we had 
counted to aid us in time of distress were in nearly the 
same dismal straits as were we. 

Even the Indians declared that they were hard 
pressed for something to eat, and more than once did 
they come in twos or in threes to beg from us who were 
starving, something that could be eaten. 

Susan and I, as we sat clasped in each other's arms 
hungry, and pining for the home over-seas which we 
had left, came to fancy that the famine which held 
possession of the land was like unto some terrible 
monster who hung above us as a cloud, settling slowly 
but surely day after day, until the hour would come 
when his terrible fangs would be securely fastened upon 
us. 

During the month of January the deaths through 
scurvy, if that indeed were the cause, grew less; but 
all believed that in the stead of being removed by 
disease, our people were slowly perishing from starva- 
tion. 

All the food in Boston was brought together, and 
portioned out, so that no one, whether he had of money, 



72 



RUTH OF BOSTON 




or was penniless, should suffer more than another. 
And yet again and again in the night have I 
been awakened by the gnawing of hunger in my 
stomach. 

With the beginning of January, Governor Winthrop 
appointed a day on which we should all fast and pray, 
as if indeed we had been doing other than fasting 
throughout the long, dreary winter. On this day 
every man, woman, and child in Boston town was to 
spend his or her time in praying to the Lord to deliver 
us from our affliction. 

We no longer hoped for the coming of the Lyon. 
Surely she must have been destroyed by the tempest, 



A DAY TO BE REMEMBERED 73 

otherwise had we seen her before this, for nearly five 
months had gone by since she left Salem Harbor. 

A DAY TO BE REMEMBERED 

Tt was on the fifth day of February, which is the same 
as if I had said Saturday, and the fast was to be kept 
on the next Thursday. Susan had come to my home on 
Friday night to sleep in my bed with me, so that we 
might have such poor comfort as could be found 
in each other's company when we were nigh to 
starving. 

She had awakened before the day dawned on this 
Saturday morning, which will be remembered by me 
so long as the Lord permits that I live, and moaned in 
distress because of the desire for food, until I opened 
my eyes, fretting because of not being allowed to 
sleep yet longer, for while I slumbered the pangs of 
hunger were not known. 

Seeing me awake, Susan began to speak of the fast 
day on the following Thursday, saying that if we had 
no food whatsoever during the twenty-four hours, at a 
time when we were so near to starvation, surely would 
we die, and she was going back to what she called the 
omens, which came to us shortly after we arrived, 
when we were startled by a loud shouting in the street 
next beyond, where could be had a view of the sea. 



74 



RUTH OF BOSTON 



THE COMING OF THE LYON 



Dimly, like one in a dream, for there was no thought 
in my mind this might be a signal that our time of trial 
was come to an end, I wondered how it was that any 
in this famine-stricken Boston of ours could raise 
their voices as if in joy, until I heard father cry out 
from the living-room below: 

"The Lyon has arrived! The Lyon has arrived!" 

It might be that I could give you, by the aid simply 

of words, some faint idea of how we suffered during 

the time of starva- 
tion, of sickness, 
and of death; but 
it is impossible for 
me to set down 
that which shall 
picture the heart- 
felt rejoicings and 
fervent thanksgiv- 
ing that were ours 
at thus knowing we 
were soon to have 
enough with which 



to drive death from 
our doors. 




ANOTHER THANKSGIVING DAY 75 

It was a time of the wildest excitement. I hardly 
know what Susan and I did or said on that day, save 
that we dressed hurriedly, running down to the very 
shore of the cove, finding there nearly every person in 
Boston, and stood with the water lapping our feet as 
we watched the oncoming of the ship which was bring- 
ing relief. 

Never before had I thought a vessel could be beauti- 
ful; but I have not seen a fairer sight than was the 
Lyon on that morning, and before night came, our 
stomachs, which had been crying out in distress because 
of lack of food, were groaning through being overly 
well filled. 

The time of famine had passed, at least for this 
season, and it was as if the sick began to gain new life, 
and health, and strength, simply through knowing 
that we were no longer in such dire straits. 

ANOTHER THANKSGIVING DAY 

Governor Winthrop gave voice to his relief and pleas- 
ure by ordering, even before the Lyon had come to 
anchor, that the fast which had been appointed for 
the next Thursday should be a day of thanksgiving 
instead, and so we made it, with prayers all the more 
fervent because of our stomachs being well filled, and 
the fear of dying by starvation being put behind us. 



76 RUTH OF BOSTON 

The ship was loaded with such things as wheat, 
peas, oatmeal, pickled beef and pork, cheese and 
butter, and, with what my mother declared was of the 
greatest value, lemon juice, which is said to be a remedy 
for those who are suffering with scurvy. 

It was not allowed that those who had money should 
buy plentifully of this cargo; but it was paid for by the 
town authorities, and divided equally among us all. 

When the day for thanksgiving came, my mother 
allowed me to have an unusually hearty breakfast, for, 
she said, there was so much for which to be thankful, 
and so many who would be present to give thanks, that 
no one could say when we might be able to have 
dinner. 

It was well she was thus thoughtful, for one of the 
preachers who came over with us, Master Wilson, 
preached, while Governor Winthrop treated us to a 
lecture, and Master Phillips was so blessed with the 
spirit that he prayed a full hour. 

Susan and I feared we would have yet more preach- 
ing, for on the ship Lyon had come a young man whom 
my father said was gifted, and Susan's father be- 
lieved he would make his influence felt among us. It 
was Master Roger Williams, and I am ashamed to say 
that I sat in fear and trembling lest Governor Win- 
throp should call upon him for a sermon, after we had 
already had much the same as two; but, fortunately, 



ANOTHER THANKSGIVING DAY 



77 



so it seemed to me, Master Williams did not raise his 
voice during the service. 

It was near to night before we were done with giving 
thanks, and then at each home was held a feast. 

During Governor Winthrop's lecture on this thanks- 
giving day, he urged that all the people, children as well as 




grown folks, should take this time of famine as a lesson, 
reminding us that it would not be a long while before 
we could hope to reap a harvest, and in the meantime 
there was very much of labor to be performed. 

He declared that even with the cargo of the Lyon, we 
had not enough to satisfy our wants until crops could 
be gathered ; but it was certain other ships would come 
to Boston during the summer, with more stores. Yet 



78 



RUTH OF BOSTON 



because of its being possible we might come to a time of 
suffering again, so must we be careful that not the small- 
est grain of wheat be wasted. 

A DEFENSE FOR THE TOWN 




When the spring had come, and before it was time 
to put seed into the ground, our fathers set about build- 
ing a defense for 
the town. 

If you remem- 
ber, I have already 
set down that this 
new village of ours 
was on a point, 
connected with 
the main coast 

only by a very narrow strip of land. Now to defend 
our town from an attack by enemies, save they should 
come by water, it was only necessary the defence be 
built on this narrow neck, or strip, and so it was 
built. 

From one side to the other, extending even down into 
the water, was a palisade, or fence, of heavy logs, in the 
middle of which stood a gate to give entrance, and the 
law was that it should be shut at sunset, not to be opened 
again until day had dawned. 



THE PROBLEM OF SERVANTS 



79 



THE PROBLEM OF SERVANTS 



Since coming here we have seen so many Indians as 
to become acquainted with them, which is to say, that 
we no longer look upon them as savages, and have no 
fear to stand in the road when they pass. But those 
whom Susan and I had seen, up to the day when 
Chickatabut, the chief man of the Massachusetts tribe, 
came, were only com- 







mon people, and such 
servants as are em- 
ployed here in the 
town, for you must 
know that more than 
one family has a Nar- 
ragansett Indian, or, 
mayhap, a Nipmuck, 
to work in the house. 

Mother says that she 
would rather do all the 
work of the house 

alone, than have one of the brown women to help 
her, for they are not cleanly to look upon, but as for 
myself, I think I could stand the sight of one of them, 
especially when it comes to soap making, of which I 
will tell you later. 



80 RUTH OF BOSTON 

Of course there are times when housewives must 
have some one to aid them, and those girls or women 
among us who would go out to work in the house are not 
many in numbers, therefore one must put up with the 
Indians, which is unpleasant, or take those who are 
known as indentured servants, meaning the people 
who have agreed with the Massachusetts Bay Company 
to work for so many years, in order to pay for their 
passage over from England. 

As for these last people, mother will not have them in 
the house, because of being afraid that we may not get 
one of good morals. Therefore in our home mother 
and I do all that is needed, rather than have around us 
people of whom we know nothing. 

CHICKATABUT 

It was not regarding the Indians, or free willers, as 
indentured servants are called, that I intended to write 
when I began. That which I counted to say was, that 
when the spring had come, after the arrival of the Lyon } 
and we were free for the time being from fears of a 
famine, the Indian by the name of Chickatabut came 
to see Governor Winthrop, having been invited to the 
end that he might sell us, who are here in Boston, this 
piece of land on which we are building our town. 

You must know that he is quite the most important 



CHICKATABUT 



savage roundabout here, and father believes, as docs 
Governor Winthrop, that if he sells us the land, it will 
be a lawful bargain, because of his standing, as I 
have said, at the head of all these brown people near- 
about. 

Now it so chanced that he was the first savage of note 
I had seen, and really he was something grand to look 
upon. He had feathers on his head, like unto a crown, 
and from this drooped a long trail of feathers reaching 
to the ground, while his leggings and doublet of tanned 
deer skin were cov- 
ered with beads, 
worked in fanciful 
patterns, together 
with the claws of 
beasts. His arrows 
were carried across 
his back, in a cover- 
ing embroidered 
with the quills of the 
porcupine painted in 
various colors, and 
he held his bow in 
his hand. 

I cannot set down 
as I would, exactly how he was dressed, because, having 
come upon him suddenly while on my way to Susan's 

RUTH OF BOSTON 6 




82 RUTH OF BOSTON 

house, of being startled by so much of adornment that 
I was like to have run away. 

He came, as I have said, to visit Governor Winthrop, 
and father declares that he sat at the table as a white 
man would have done, save that instead of using the 
knife and spoon, he took up food with his fingers. 
Mother thinks that the Governor must have been re- 
lieved indeed when his guest departed, for no one in- 
sists so strictly upon proper table manners as does 
Master Winthrop. 

It must have been that Chickatabut was pleased 
with his visit, for two or three days after having gone 
back to his people, he sent the Governor as much Indian 
corn as would fill a hogshead, and, in return for the 
gift, Master Winthrop presented him with a suit of 
clothing made in English fashion by a tailor. 

Father says that now indeed do we own all the land 
this side of the neck, for Master Blackstone, who had 
a farm here, as I have already said, sold it to our people 
before we moved over from Charlestown, and now with 
Chickatabut's selling of the same, there should be no 
question as to who has a lawful claim upon it. 

BUILDING A SHIP 

Although, in my own mind, there was never any doubt 
but that the land was rightfully ours without consult- 



BUILDING A SHIP 



83 



ing a savage about it, yet I believe, from all I heard 
said, that our people felt better in mind after this 
Indian chief had 
agreed to our stay- 
ing here, for it 
seemed as if he 
had no sooner 
made the bargain 
than work was 
pushed forward 
more as it would 
have been done in 
England. 

As for instance, 
Governor Win- 
throp began build- 
ing a vessel, and 

now, if you please, we are to have a ship of our own, 
made in Boston, launched in Boston, and to sail from 
Boston. 

When she is finished, and has sailed to Southampton 
or Liverpool, the people there must begin to believe 
that we of the Massachusetts Bay Colony are getting 
well on in the world if we can own fleets, for in case one 
vessel can be built, there is no reason why we should not 
have many, while there is so much of lumber everywhere 
around. 




84 RUTH OF BOSTON 



HOUSEHOLD CONVENIENCES 

Do you know what a betty-lamp is? We have two 
in our house, which were brought over by Captain 
Pierce of the Lyon, as a gift to my mother. 

You, who have more or less trouble with your rush 
lights, cannot fancy how luxurious it is to have one of 
these betty-lamps, which costs in care no more than is 
required to fill them with grease or oil. 

Fearing lest you may not know what these lamps are, 
which Susan's mother says should be called brown- 
bettys, I will do my best to set down here such a de- 
scription as shall bring them before you. 

The two which we have are made of brass; but 
Captain Pierce says they are also to be found of pewter 
or of iron. 

These are round, and very much the same shape 
as half an apple, save that they have a nose an inch or 
two long, which sticks out from one side. The body 
of the bowl is filled with tallow or grease, and 
the wick, or a piece of twisted cloth, is threaded 
into the nose, with one end hanging out to be 
lighted. 

Ours hang by chains from the ceiling, and the 
light which they give is certainly equal to, if not 
stronger than, that of a wax candle; but they 




HOUSEHOLD CONVENIENCES 



85 



are not so cleanly, because if the wick be ever so little 
too long, the lamps send forth a great smoke. 

Father says he has seen a phcebe-lamp, which is 
much like our betty-lamps, save that it has a small cup 
underneath the nose to catch the dripping grease, and 
that I think would be a great improvement, if indeed it 
is possible to improve upon so useful an article of house- 
hold furniture as this. 

Speaking of our betty-lamps reminds me that Susan's 
mother had sent over to her in the Lyon, a set of cob 
irons, which are something after the fashion of andirons, 

or fire-dogs, save that 
they are also intended 
to hold the spit and the 
dripping pan. She had 
also a pair of "creepers," 
which are small 
I r<<^^ 1 andirons, and 
which she some- 
times used with 
the cob irons. 
The andirons which we brought from England are 
much too fine to be used in this fireplace, which is filled 
with pothooks, trammels, hakes, and other cooking 
utensils. 

They were a wedding present to my mother, and are 
in what we call "sets of three," meaning that on each 




86 RUTH OF BOSTON 

side of the fireplace are three andirons ; one to hold the 
heavy logs that are at the bottom of the fire; another 
raised still higher to bear the weight of the smaller 
sticks, and a third for much the same purpose as the 
second; or, perhaps, to make up more of an ornament, 
for they are of iron and brass, and are exceeding 
beautiful to look upon. 

I have used the words trammels and hakes, but it is 
possible that you may not know their meaning, and so 
I will add by way of explanation that though they are 
both hooks upon which we may hang pots and kettles, 
the trammel is so constructed that it may be lengthened 
or shortened, being made of two parts. 

HOW THE WORK IS DIVIDED 

There is no good reason why I should make any 
attempt at setting down here all that was done by our 
people in the way of planting, in order that we might 
have such a harvest in the fall as would put far from 
us the fear of another famine. 

It should be easy for you to fancy how we are em- 
ployed here in this new town. Some of the men are 
working at the palisade, or barricade on the Neck; 
others are in the field planting and hoeing, while yet 
another company is in the shipyard on the Mystic 
River. 



HOW THE WORK IS DIVIDED 



Ten or twelve of the people are constantly fishing, or 
hunting, to add to the food supply, while those serving- 
men or laborers who are not skilled at other work are 
cutting trees into fuel, 
and otherwise clearing 
the land that it may be 
tilled another year. 

The women and chil- 
dren are no less busy, 
and it is easy for you to 
guess what their duties 
are. These log houses, 
while not requiring as 
much care as if they 
were mansions, need 
very much in the way of 
woman's work. 

Lest the shiftless ones, 
who have no pride in the 

appearance of the town, or are too lazy to do other than 
what may be absolutely necessary, should allow the dirt to 
gather round about the outside of the houses, a law has 
been made obliging each person to keep free from dirt or 
filth of any kind, all the land surrounding his dwelling 
for a distance of fifty paces, whether in the street or 
garden, and it is upon us children that this last work 
falls. 




88 RUTH OF BOSTON 

Save for the babies, and those who are abed with 
sickness, there are no idle ones in Boston, and well in- 
deed it should be so, for it surely is true that "Satan 
finds some mischief still for idle hands to do." If we 
were not busily engaged during all the waking hours, 
then would we have opportunity to grow homesick, for 
much as we are growing to like this New World, there 
will come now and then thoughts of the homes we left 
in England, and one's heart falls sad at realizing that, 
perhaps, never again will we see those whom we left 
behind when the Arabella sailed out of Southampton. 

LAUNCHING THE SHIP 

It is not well that I let my mind go back into the past. 
I should think only of the future, and of what we are 
doing here in Boston, the most important of which just 
now is the launching of our ship. 

She is what sailors call "bark rigged," which is the 
same as saying that she has three masts ; but yet not as 
much of rigging as a ship. 

Her name, painted on the stern, is Blessing of the Bay, 
and there is hardly any need for me to say that every 
man, woman, and child in the town stood near at hand 
to see her as she slipped down the well greased ways 
into the river, where she rode as gracefully as a swan. 

I have already said that when the Lyon came in, at 



LUNCHING THE SHIP 



89 




:J! ^.- 






the time of the famine, she appeared the most beautiful 
vessel I had ever seen, and next to her comes the Bless- 
ing of the Bay. As Governor Winthrop said in the 
short lecture he gave us before launching, she was 
Boston made, of Boston timber, and would be sailed 
by Boston sailors, so that when she goes out across the 
ocean, people shall know that there are Englishmen 
far overseas who are striving, with God's help, to make 
a country which shall one day stand equal with the 
England we have left forever. 

It is while speaking of the launching that I am re- 
minded of a very comical mishap to Master Winthrop, 
and I may set it down without disrespect to him, for he 



9 o RUTH OF BOSTON 

is pleased to join in the mirth whenever it is spoken of 
as something to cause laughter. 



MASTER WINTHROP S MISHAP 

It seems that the wolves had been worrying some of 
the goats that Master Winthrop brought over to this 
country with him, and on a certain day, after supper, he 
went out with his gun in the hope of killing a few of the 
ravenous beasts. 

He had not traveled more than half a mile from home 
when night came on, and, turning about to go back, as 
was prudent, for it is not safe that one man shall be 
alone in the forest after dark, because of the wild ani- 
mals, he mistook his path, wandering directly away 
from the river, instead of toward it. 

I myself have heard him say that he must have walked 
a full hour, and was growing exceeding uncomfortable in 
mind, when he came to an Indian hut that was built of 
branches of trees and of skins, so that it formed a fairly 
comfortable dwelling, and was of sufficient strength to re- 
sist the efforts of any one to enter, save through the door. 

There was no person inside this hut or wigwam; the 
door was unfastened, and the Governor, understanding 
that he must have some shelter during the night, else 
was he in danger of being devoured • by wild beasts, 
entered as if it were his own dwelling. 



MASTER WINTHROP'S MISHAP 



9 1 



With his flint and steel he built a fire, and by its light, 
saw, piled up in one corner of the place, mats such as 
the savages use to sleep upon. Having taken a mouthful 
of snakeweed, which is said to be of great benefit in 
quieting one's nerves, and prayed to God for safe keep- 
ing during the night, he lay down. 

Before much time had passed, and certainly while his 
eyes were yet wide open, it began to rain, and some of 
the water finding its way through the carelessly thatched 
roof, disturbed his rest, so that it was impossible to sleep. 

He spent the night singing psalms, gathering such 
wood as he could handily come at from the outside, 
to keep the fire going, 
and pacing to and fro 
in the narrow space, 
until near to daylight, 
when an Indian squaw 
came that way. 

The Governor, hear- 
ing her voice as she 
cried out to whosoever 
owned the hut and was 
evidently a friend of 
hers, barred the door 
as best he might, while 
she stood on the out- 
side beating it with her 




9 2 RUTH OF BOSTON 

hands, and calling aloud in the Indian language, first 
in friendly terms, and then angrily; but yet he made 
no reply. 

The door held firm against her efforts until day came, 
when the Governor walked out of the hut, not dreaming 
the woman would make an attack upon him, but straight- 
way he was forced to take to his heels, or, as he laugh- 
ingly declared, she would have ^clawed out his eyes. 

Although we children knew nothing whatsoever con- 
cerning it, the chief men of the town had been greatly 
alarmed because of the Governor's disappearance, and 
during the whole of the night no less than twenty had 
walked to and fro in the forest hunting for him; but by 
an unkind chance never going in the direction of this 
hut. When Master Winthrop made his appearance, 
it had just been decided that a hue and cry should be 
raised, and all the men in Boston be called to aid in the 
search. 

NEW ARRIVALS 

It was during this summer, when Captain Pierce 
brought the Lyon to us for the third time, that Mistress 
Winthrop, the Governor's wife came over. 

John Eliot, the preacher, was also one of the pas- 
sengers, and they had even a longer voyage than had 
we in the Arabella. 



NEW ARRIVALS 



93 



The Lyon left Southampton about the middle of 
August, and did not arrive here until the fourth of 
November, when she came to anchor off Nantasket. 

Then indeed did we have a week of rejoicing, sharing 
in the Governor's gladness that his family was with him 
once more. All those who could get boats to convey 
them, went down off Nantasket, and when Mistress 



I 




Winthrop stepped ashore at the foot of our cove, she 
was honored by volleys from all the firearms in the 
town. 

During three days that followed, it was as if the 
people believed Master Winthrop and his loved ones 
were in danger of starvation, for, from the highest to 
the lowest in the town, each brought some gift of food, 



94 



RUTH OF BOSTON 



such as fat hogs, goats, deer meat, geese, partridges, — 
in fact, anything that could be eaten, save clams, fish, 
and lobsters, of which we had already more than plenty 
enough to dull one's appetite for such eating. 

Those who read what I have here set down, may 
charge me with speaking overly much concerning what 
we had to eat, and yet I question whether any of our 
company who passed through the famine of the year 
of 1630, and the pinching times of 1631 and 1632, 
could do otherwise than dwell upon our store of food. 

ANOTHER FAMINE 



Now, if you please, I will set down at once that which 
is in my mind concerning it, so that I need not weary 
you by repeating. This first year of harvest was a 

fairly plentiful one, 
and would have 
sufficed for all our 
wants during the 
coming winter, had 
it not been that 
other people were 
joining us by every 
ship, nearly all of 
whom were poorly 
provided for, hav- 




- m^ ' 



FINE CLOTHING FORBIDDEN 95 

ing left England in the belief that we were dwelling 
amid plenty. 

Therefore it was, that to feed these new comers as 
well as ourselves, we were frequently hard pressed for 
what was actually needed to save ourselves the pangs 
of hunger. 

It is true that during this summer of 1631 many 
cattle were sent from England; but so many died 
during the voyage, that those which lived seemed ex- 
tremely precious, because from them were we count- 
ing on our future herds. People who had spent their 
money in England buying twenty cows, but succeeded 
in bringing to Boston only four, could not afford to 
kill them for the sake of meat, more especially since the 
very life of our colony depended upon their increase. 

We had famine in the first year; we were cramped for 
food during the second year, yet consoled ourselves 
with the thought that when another season had come, 
there would be so much seed put into the ground that 
there could be no question of lack of whatever might 
be needed. 

But the summer of our third year in Boston was cold 
and wet; the crop of corn failed almost entirely, and 
again were we forced to seek our food from the sea, or 
to dig for clams; but even this last was extremely diffi- 
cult, owing to the exceedingly cold winter of that season. 

The Charles river was frozen from shore to shore, 



96 RUTH OF BOSTON 

and it was as if the snow fell almost every day, until the 
drifts were piled so high roundabout our town that, 
save in the very center of the village, we could not 
move about. 

Another famine was staring us in the face when the 
winter came to an end, and we knew that unless help 
should reach us from the outside, we could not add to 
our stores until another harvest time. 

Then it was that we realized the value of having 
neighbors, and truly these were neighbors indeed, who, 
at Jamestowtt in the New World, had such store of food, 
as would allow them to lade a ship wholly with corn, 
sending her, through God's direction, to that port where 
the supply was most needed. 

Lest I weary you with too many words regarding our 
hunger, I will set it down thus briefly, that, except at 
rare intervals, we were pinched for food during the first 
five years we lived in Boston, and not until that time 
had passed were we free from further fear of famine. 

FINE CLOTHING FORBIDDEN 

And yet we did not spend all our time complaining 
one to another lest on the morrow we should be hungry, 
and in proof of this I am minded to set down here that 
which I have copied from the law made in our town 
four years after we came across from Charlestown: 



OUR FIRST CHURCH 97 

"That no person, either man or woman, shall hereafter 
make or buy any apparel, either woolen, or silk, or linen 
with any lace on it, silver, gold, or thread, under the penal- 
ty of forfeiture of said cloths. Also that no person, either man 
or woman, shall make or buy any slashed cloths, other than 
one slash in each sleeve, and another in the back; also all 
cut-works, embroideries, or needle-work, capbands, and rails 
are forbidden hereafter to be made and worn under the 
aforesaid penalty; also all gold and silver girdles, hatbands, 
belts, ruffs, beaver hats are prohibited to be bought and worn 
hereafter." 

Mother says it is because of our people having given 
themselves up to vanity that the Lord laid His hand 
heavily upon us by cutting off the harvest, and yet it 
seems to me, although I question not that which she 
has said, that the good God would never punish all 
our people for the sin which a few committed. 

Yet, perhaps, there were more than a few who com- 
mitted the sin, else why should it have been that our 
wise men felt it necessary to forbid fanciful dress, as 
they did in this law which I have set down? 

OUR FIRST CHURCH 

Not until the second year after Boston was settled, 
did we have a building devoted entirely to the worship 
of God. Then was built of logs, neatly hewn and 
set together with much care, so that both the outside 
and the inside were smooth and fair to look upon, that 
which we called our church. 



RUTH OF BOSTON- 



9 8 



RUTH OF BOSTON 




The sides did 
not stand as tall as 
some of our dwell- 
ings; but the roof 
was much higher 
and sharper, so 
that inside it looked 
to be very large. 
There were four 
windows in each 
side, and all of them contained glass, if you please. 
The pulpit, with a well fashioned sounding-board 
of odorous cedar above it, stood at the end of the build- 
ing farthest from the door, and there were near about it 
eight pews made much after the same shape as those in 
the church at home. In these sit the magistrates, the 
elders and the deacons, with the men on one side, the 
women and girls on the other, and the boys in one corner, 
where the tithing-men may keep them in order. 

Back of these pews were benches sufficient in num- 
ber to give seats to all our people, and if it could have 
been that Master Winthrop and those in authority 
believed we might worship God quite as well while 
comfortable in body, so that we had a fireplace, it 
would have delighted me much. 

It seems almost a sin to complain because of being 
cold while one is praising God, and yet during this long, 



OUR FIRST CHURCH 99 

dreary winter when the earth was piled high with 
snow, and the river imprisoned in ice, it was well nigh 
impossible, after having remained in the same position 
two or three hours, to prevent one's teeth from chatter- 
ing so sharply that the noise might disturb others. 

It seems to me that one could enjoy a sermon much 
better if one were not wishing for the warmth of the 
fireplace at home. 

Many of our people have what is called a foot-stove 
to take with them to meeting, and it seems to me a 
most comfortable arrangement ; 
but mother says that if our 
love of God be not strong 
enough to prevent discomfort 
simply because of the frost, 
when such a man as Master 
Wilson, or either of the preachers, or Governor Win- 
throp, is pleased to deliver a sermon, then are we 
utterly lost. 

F/san declares that she was lost the first winter we 
came here, when her cheeks were frost-bitten during 
one of Master Winthrop's lectures, which took no more 
than two hours in the speaking. 

These foot-stoves, which T wish most fervently my 
father would believe we might be permitted to use, are 
square boxes made of iron, pierced with many tiny 
holes, and having a handle by which they can be car- 




ioo RUTH OF BOSTON 

ried. One of these, filled with live coals, will keep 
warm a very long time, especially if it be covered with 
skins, and I envy Mistress Winthrop and her daughter, 
even while knowing how great is the sin, when they sit 
in the Governor's pew so comfortably warm that there 
is no fear their teeth will, by chattering, cause un- 
seemly disturbance. 

A TROUBLESOME PERSON 

There are certain matters concerning which I was 
minded not to speak, because of their causing both 
Susan and me very much of sadness at the time, and it 
has seemed as if I had set down little else except trouble 
and suffering, whereas there was very much of the time 
when we of Boston enjoyed our life in the New World. 

That some will not live as God would have them, 
we know only too well, and we found one such among 
us during the second year after our village was built. 
Thomas Morton was the person who gave the of^cers 
of Boston no little trouble, and in order to tell ilnrier- 
standingly the story of what he did, I must go back to 
that time, two years before we landed here, when the 
people of Plymouth had cause to complain against this 
same man. 

From what I have heard father say, he had been a 
lawyer in the city of London, and came over to Plymouth 



THE VILLAGE OF MERRY MOUNT 101 

hoping to better his fortunes ; but because of not being a 
God-fearing man, the religious spirit of the colonies 
was little to his liking. 

THE VILLAGE OF MERRY MOUNT 

Within five or six miles of where stands our village, 
had been, a few years before, a settlement which one 
Captain Wollaston began, and, tiring of the enterprise, 
went back to England, leaving there some few of his 
followers, who were ungodly people. 

This Thomas Morton, believing himself held in too 
close restraint at Plymouth, sought out these people at 
WOllaston, and became one of them, to the shame and 
reproach of all godly-minded people in this New World. 
He changed the name of the village to Merry Mount; 
was chosen leader of the company there, and made of 
the place a perfect Sodom. 

It is said, so I have heard my father say, that they 
had no religious services, save now and then, when in a 
spirit of wickedness this Thomas Morton read from 
the prayer book. He increased the number of his 
following by enticing the servants away from the good 
folks of Plymouth. 

It gave much offence to them that such a village 
should be in the land where they had come to set 
up the true worship of God, therefore Captain Miles 



RUTH OF BOSTON 




Standish, a soldier of Plymouth, went with a force of 
men to Merry Mount, seized this Thomas Morton, and 
sent him to England that he might answer for his 
crimes to the London Company. 

PUNISHING THOMAS MORTON 



What happened there my father does not know; but 
certain it is that when the Lyon came on her second 
voyage, she brought among her passengers this same 



PUNISHING THOMAS MORTON 103 

Thomas Morton, and from the moment he arrived 
our people had trouble with him. 

He brought considerable property in the way of 
firearms, powder and shot, and, without asking per- 
mission from the chief men of our town, set about 
trading these goods with the Indians for furs, as he 
had done at Merry Mount, which was not only a 
menace to all the white people in this new country, 
because of furnishing the savages with arms that might 
be used to kill us, but directly against the law which 
forbade trafficking with the Indians. 

He must have been a wicked man indeed, for, not 
content with doing that which our people had for- 
bidden, he cheated the savages by selling them black 
sand for powder, and demanding more of furs than 
was fair and just for such goods as he gave them. 

Of course one may think that his crime against us 
was lessened when he weighed out worthless sand, 
instead of powder that might be used to our harm; 
but the chief men of Boston claimed that the savages 
must be dealt with fairly, otherwise would they look 
upon us, who were willing to trade honestly, as rogues 
and thieves. 

Therefore it was that our people seized this Thomas 
Morton, gave him fair trial before the court, and sen- 
tenced him to four and twenty hours in the bilboes, after 
which he was again to be sent as prisoner to England. 



104 



RUTH OF BOSTON 



It may be that some do not know what bilboes are, 
and I can explain because of having seen them while 
they were on Thomas Morton. 

A bilboe is a long bar of iron, on which are two 
heavy clamps, in shape not unlike bracelets which 
ladies of quality wear upon their arms, fastened by a 
ring to the bar in such manner that they may slide back 

and forth. These 



clamps, or clasps, are 
placed upon the prison- 
er's ankles, and pushed 
apart until his legs are 
stretched wide. His 
hands are tied behind 
his back, and he is 
forced to sit upon the 
ground, unable to give 
relief to his aching limbs, because of the bar's being 
too weighty for him to move it. 

All of Thomas Morton's goods were seized to pay the 
charges of the trial, and also to make good to the In- 
dians what they had lost through his knavishness. The 
house which he had built, and it was a fair one made 
of heavy logs, was burned in the presence of the pris- 
oner and the court, as a sign that we of Boston would 
not countenance dishonest tricks, even when they were 
played upon the savages. 




PHILIP RATCLIFF'S CRIME 105 

PHILIP RATCLIFF'S CRIME 

The punishment of Thomas Morton saddened Susan 
and myself sorely; but not so much as when one Philip 
Ratcliff was punished. 

He was such a wicked man that he went around the 
town saying he believed the devil was at the head of 
our church, and in every way casting reproach upon 
religion, despite the fact of his having been warned 
again and again that unless he put a bridle to his tongue, 
punishment would speedily follow. 

He did not give heed to the warning, however, and 
after a time, which was during the third summer of 
our being in this land, he was brought before the court 
as one who had cast reproach upon God. For this he 
was sentenced to be whipped, to have his ears cut off, 
to be fined forty shillings, and afterward to be banished 
to England. 

Because of this man's being so very, very wicked, 
Susan and I believed we should go to see him whipped, 
and gathered with the people at the pillory, where he 
stood with his neck and arms clutched by the heavy 
bars of wood; but when Samuel Morgan made ready 
the heavy whip, just as the man's back was bared to 
receive the lashes, we turned away in horror, not daring 
to look. 



io6 



RUTH OF BOSTON 



Father said, when he came home in the evening, that 
Ratcliff bore the whipping and the ear-cutting without 
a cry; but when it was over, he threatened vengeance 
against us, after he should be set free in England, and 
later we came to know what he meant by such threats. 




He went everywhere about in the old country, telling 
that the New World was a hideous wilderness in which 
roamed the wildest savages thirsting for the blood of 
white people; that the land was rocky and barren, and 
not fit for farms, for no crops could be raised upon it; 
that the weather was cold, and that the climate caused 
deathly sickness. 



IN THE PILLORY 107 

All this, father said, worked to our harm among 
those godly people who were inclined to join us, for 
they feared to come into such a place, not understanding 
that these things were lies which had been told out of a 
spirit of revenge. 

IN THE PILLORY 

Another wicked person who had come to Boston was 
Henry Linn, who was no sooner living among us than 
he wrote letters to England by every vessel, full of 
slander against the churches, and of those who took 
part in the government. 

He was forced to stand in the pillory from sunrise to 
sunset, and was then sent back to England with the 
warning that if he ever returned, worse punishment 
would follow. 

It has come to my mind that possibly some who read 
these words may not have seen a pillory, for I am told 
that there are places in this world where the people so 
fear God and love their neighbors that there is no need 
they be punished, therefore will I set down as best I may, 
a description of that instrument of shame that stands 
near to where lives Master Wilson. 

First a platform of logs is made of such height that 
he who stands upon it can be seen of all the people, 
and from the center of this rises a stout log to the height 



108 RUTH OF BOSTON 

of four feet or more. On the top of the upright tim- 
ber, and fastened immovable, is a puncheon plank 
on the upper edge of which are cut three grooves, the 
middle one large enough to contain a man's neck and 
the other two his wrists. Now a second plank is 
fashioned to fit down over the first one, with other 
grooves in it to match. 

Whosoever must be punished is forced to stand upon 
this platform with his head and arms fastened securely 
in the holes of the planks, exposed to the view of all 
the people during so long a time as the sentence de- 
mands. 

In addition to being a most shameful punishment, it 
must be exceeding painful, for one may not stand 
very long in the same position without becoming 
cramped, and he who is in the pillory cannot move 
hands or head. 

STEALING FROM THE INDIANS 

I grieve to say that there were some among our people 
who seemed to believe there was nothing of crime that 
could be committed against a savage, and Master 
Josias Plastow, whom we had ever looked upon as a 
godly man, showed himself to be knavish where the 
brown people were concerned. 

Chickatabut, the chief of the Massachusetts Indians, 



STEALING FROM THE INDIANS 



109 



of whom I have already spoken, brought proof to Boston 
that Master Plastow had stolen three half-bushels of 
corn from some of his people, living near Neponset, 
and on being charged with the offence by Governor 




Winthrop, Master Plastow confessed that he had done 
so, claiming that it was not stealing to take from the 
savages. 

The Governor and his assistants thought differently, 
though, for Master Plastow was fined five pounds in 
money, and ordered to send six half-bushels of corn 
to the Indians from whom he had stolen, after which 
all people were forbidden to call him Master any more, 
but must give him only the name of Josias. 



no RUTH OF BOSTON 

Captain Stone believed this sentence to be wrong, 
and openly called the justice unseemly names. He 
was straightway summoned before the court, and fined 
one hundred pounds in money for speaking disrespect- 
fully of one in authority. 

Nor was this the only case where fault was found 
with the punishment inflicted upon Josias. Henry 
Lyon wrote a letter to a cousin of his in Plymouth, 
another to a friend in Salem, and sent four to London, 
all of which were filled with harsh words against the 
Governor of Boston, and the manner in which justice 
was dealt out. He was given twelve lashes on the bare 
back, and banished to England. 

THE PASSING OF NEW LAWS 

When we had been in this village two years, there was 
much vexation because of the greater portion of the gold 
and silver money, which our people had brought with 
them, having been sent back to England in order to pur- 
chase goods there, and the result was that even those 
who were well off in the things of this world, found 
themselves unable to pay their debts. 

Therefore is was that the court ordered corn to be 
taken in the stead of gold and silver, unless money, 
or beaver skins, were set down in the writing as the 
method of payment agreed upon. 



THE PASSING OF NEW LAWS 



At the same time another law was passed, part of which 
seemed to bear heavily upon those who were homesick 
to the point of going back to England, and yet may 
have offended the officers of the law in some way. 
It was declared that no person should be allowed to 
depart out of the town of Boston, either by sea or by 
land, or to buy goods out of any vessel or of the Indians, 
without permission from the magistrates. 

I know it is not seemly for a girl to question that 
which her elders have done, and yet there were many 
times when it seemed to me as if such a law worked 
injury to us of Boston. 

I might not have given so much heed to matters which 
do not concern girls, but for the fact that Susan's father 
had crossed the Neck on his way in search of wild ani- 
mals, and having come some four miles into the forest, 
he met an Indian who had on his back a half-bushel 
of corn in a basket. 

The savage took 
a fancy to the gir- 
dle he wore, offered 
to give him the 
corn, and bring as 
much more on the 
following day, if 
the belt were given 
to him then. 




~ nc % 



ii2 RUTH OF BOSTON 

Susan's father, believing that the law against buy- 
ing provisions of an Indian would not be carried so far 
as to prevent a bargain like the one which the savage 
had offered, stripped off his belt and took the corn. 

On coming back to the town, Samuel Goodlove, one 
of the tithing-men, met him, and asked how it chanced 
he had set forth in search of wild fowl and brought 
back corn. 

Thinking no harm, Susan's father told all that 
had been done in the forest, and straightway he was 
brought before Governor Winthrop, who fined him ten 
shillings and the corn he had brought on his back four 
miles, for having offended the law. In addition, he 
was sentenced to give back to the Indian as much corn 
as he had taken, but without demanding from him 
the girdle that had been given over. 

MASTER PORMONT'S SCHOOL 

Five years after we were settled in this town of Bos- 
ton, a school was set up for young people, and such 
children of the Indians as wished to attend were allowed 
to do so freely without payment, although every white 
man was forced to pay each year a certain amount, 
either in money or in goods, for the hire of the teacher, 
who was Master Philemon Pormont. 

It must not be supposed that we children knew no- 



MASTER PORMONT'S SCHOOL 



113 



thing whatsoever of reading, writing, or of doing small 
sums in arithmetic, up to this time. A certain portion 
of each day did my mother or father teach me my les- 
sons, and when Master Pormont opened his school, I 
could write as fair a hand as I do now, which seems 
fortunate, for he was not skilful in teaching the art of 
writing. 

As for myself, I truly believe that had my first les- 
sons in the use of a quill come from him, I had never 
known how to form a letter, because of his being ex- 
ceeding harsh in his ways. 

A child who failed in doing at the first attempt ex- 
actly as Master Pormont thought fit, was given a sharp 
blow over the knuckles of the hand which held the quill, 
and Ezra Whitman was punished in this manner so 
severely on a certain day, that it was nearly a week 




RUTH OF BOSTON 8 



ii4 RUTH OF BOSTON 

before he was able to use his fingers. Even then the 
teacher declared that if the blow had been sharper, the 
boy would, before the pain had ceased, have known more 
about that which he was endeavoring to show him. 

The school was first set up in the house that had been 
built by Josias Plastow. If you remember, he was one 
who had been under the discipline of the court, and it 
was forbidden any should call him save by the name of 
Josias. 

Feeling that he had been harshly dealt with, Josias 
left Boston, and went into Plymouth to live, therefore 
did his dwelling belong to the town, according to the 
law. It was made into a schoolroom by having benches 
set up around the four sides, in such fashion that the 
scholars faced a ledge of puncheon planks, which was 
built against the walls to be used when we needed a desk 
on which to write, or to work out sums in arithmetic. 

Master Pormont sat upon a platform in the center of 
the room, where he could keep us children well in view, 
and woe betide the one who neglected his task, for 
punishment was certain to follow. 

SCHOOL DISCIPLINE 

There were times when it seemed to me as if Master 
Pormont had eyes in the back of his head, for once 
when I ventured to ask Susan Freeman for the loan of 



SCHOOL DISCIPLINE 



"5 



her quill, while he was looking in the opposite direction, 
I was speedily called to an account for misbehavior. 
Then it was he handed me a knife he carried in his 
pocket, and further command was not needed. 

I knew full well that I must go outside and cut a 
stout switch for use upon my own body, and if perad- 
venture I had been 
so foolish as to 
bring back a small 
one, the first would 
have been used to 
switch me with un- 
til it was broken, 
after which it was 
my duty to go for 
another of more 
weight. 

My hands 
smarted a full hour 
after the punishment had been dealt out, and there were 
such swellings upon them when I got home that mother 
tied both up in linen after besmearing them plentifully 
with ointment. 

It was not always that Master Pormont used a switch 
upon a child who had been foolish enough to speak 
with his neighbor, for he had what were called whisper- 
ing-sticks, which were most disagreeable to wear, and 




n6 RUTH OF BOSTON 

caused a great deal of pain, so Susan said; but as for 
myself, I was never forced to bear such punishment. 
These whispering-sticks were stout bits of wood from 
the oak tree, which could not readily be broken by 
the teeth, and were put into a child's mouth as you 
thrust a bit into the mouth of a horse, after which the 
two ends were bound securely back of the neck. Thus 
the unfortunate one's jaws were stretched wide open, 
oftentimes for a full hour. 

OTHER TOOLS OF TORTURE 

It seemed to me then, and does even now, that Master 
Pormont spent more time devising means of punish- 
ment than in teaching us our lessons, for he had as 
many torture tools of various kinds as would have 
served to make a heavy load for either of us children. 

That which the lads most feared was the flapper, and 
truly it was well contrived to cause pain. It was a piece 
of stout deer hide, or thick leather, four or five inches 
wide, and twice as long, with a hole in the center about 
as large as the end of my thumb. One end of this was 
tied to a stout handle, and, when applying it, Master 
Pormont forced the child who had disobeyed the rules 
of school, to lie over one of the benches in such a 
manner that he could come at the lad's bare skin. When 
the flapper was laid on vigorously, at each blow the 



OTHER TOOLS OF TORTURE 



117 



flesh would puff up through this hole in the center of 
the leather, in a way most painful to behold. 

There is little need for me to say that Master Por- 
mont had a number of dunce's caps made of bark from 
the birch tree, on which were painted different in- 
scriptions to suit the offence, such as "Stupid Boy," 
for one who could not readily answer the questions he 
asked concerning the day's lessons; "A Silly Dunce," 
to fit one who was slow in learning; "A Wicked Liar," 
for some lad who had not told the truth. 

In fact, I cannot set down all the names which 
Master Pormont had written on these dunce's caps, 
and there was hardly an hour during the day when at 
least one of them was 
not in use. 

That contrivance 
which he had for chil- 
dren who would not 
sit quietly on their 
benches, was, seem- 
ingly, the most inno- 
cent, and yet, as I 
know to my sorrow, 
caused a vast amount 
of pain. It was a small 
square of puncheon 
plank with a single 




n8 RUTH OF BOSTON 

stick in the center as a leg, and on this the culprit was 
forced to sit, balancing himself or herself as best might 
be by the feet, without being allowed to touch the 
hands to anything. 

As I thus set down the poor description it seems a 
harmless thing, and a punishment too mild to meet a 
grave offence, but yet if you were to try to balance 
yourself on this unipod, as Master Pormont called it, 
for the space of an hour, every joint in your body would 
cry aloud with pain. 

As for myself, I know that more than once I would 
rather have fallen headlong from this unipod, than 
have endured the torture a single moment, even had I 
not known that more severe punishment would follow 
such a disregard of the rules of school. 

DIFFICULT LESSONS 

The first lesson which Master Pormont gave to those 
of us children who could read and write fairly well, was 
from the Latin grammar, and he required that we have 
at our tongue's end within the first day, the different 
forms of no less than six verbs; and this regardless of 
the fact that we had never so much as put our eyes to 
the language before! 

Do not let it be understood that I am in any way 
complaining of whatsoever Master Pormont did, for 



OTHER SCHOOLS 119 

although I could not understand the reason for many 
of the lessons at that time, there can be no question but 
that so wise a man as he knew what was best suited 
for us children. 

But surely, to Susan and me, who knew no more of 
arithmetic than was to be found in the multiplying, 
dividing, and adding of small sums, it was most grevious 
work to stumble over such terms as "fret," "tare," and 
"net," when we had no idea of their meaning. 

Nor would Master Pormont give us such information, 
claiming that we should seek it from our parents, or 
from other people in the town, to the end that if it 
was gained by much labor we would the longer remem- 
ber it. 

OTHER SCHOOLS 

To me it was a great relief when dame schools were 
established, and by this term I mean schools that were 
taught by women. 

Some of our more tender-hearted people believed 
Master Pormont's methods were too harsh for the 
younger children; therefore, after he had kept school 
one year, Mistress Sowerby, who was the widow of 
Master Sowerby who had been assistant in the church 
at Yarmouth, in England, was hired at the wage of six 
pounds a year to teach the girls and the smaller boys. 



120 



RUTH OF BOSTON 



She did not appear to think it necessary that young 
ladies should know so very much concerning Latin 
grammar, or arithmetic; but rather spent her time 
showing us how to spin tow strings, or to knit hose or 
stockings. 

Because of the school's having been set up in her 
own home, we could learn how to cook, and to weave, 

and to knit, not only for our 
own use, but to sell, and any 
kind of knitting work done 
well was in great demand. 
When I could do herring- 
bone, or fox-and-geese pat- 
terns, working them, moreover, 
into mittens or stockings, I felt 
■^j exceeding proud. 

Indeed, we had among us 
one girl who knit into a single 
pair of mittens, the alphabet 
and a verse of poetry in four 
lines. 

Mistress Sowerby was most careful in teaching us 
the use of the quill, for she claimed that the young 
girl or young woman, who could make easy, flowing 
letters, need not consider herself ignorant, even though 
she failed in arithmetic, or was unable to spell cor- 
rectly the words she set down. 




RAISING FLAX 121 

It seemed to Susan and me as if the people of Boston 
were taking great pride in the teaching of their children, 
when we learned that four hundred pounds had been 
set aside from the money of the town with which to set 
up a college, near those plantations which we had come 
to call the New Town. 

We girls were more than disappointed, however, 
when told that only lads would be allowed to enter 
this college, and then not until having gained a certain 
amount of knowledge elsewhere ; but yet it was a matter 
in which we could take pride, that there should be 
such a school formed when only six years had passed 
since we began to build the town of Boston. 

RAISING FLAX 

It would be strange indeed if I failed to set down 
anything concerning the flax which we spin, because 
save for it we would have had nothing of linen except 
what could be brought from England. There is no 
question but that every one who reads this will know 
exactly how flax is raised and spun into cloth; but yet 
I am minded to explain, because we girls of Boston 
have more to do with raising flax than with any other 
crop. 

It is sown early in the spring, and when the plants 
are three or four inches high, we girls are obliged to 



RUTH OF BOSTON 




weed them, and in so doing are forced to go barefoot, 
because of the stalks being very tender and therefore 
easily broken down. 

I do not believe there is a child in town who fails to 
go into the flax fields, because of its being such work 
as can be done by young people better than by older 
ones, who are heavier and more likely to injure the 
plants. 

I have said that we are obliged to go barefooted; 
but where there is a heavy growth of thistles, as is 
often the case, we girls wear two or three pairs of 
woolen stockings to protect our feet. 

If there is any wind, we must perforce work facing 
it, so that such of the plants as may by accident have 



PREPARING FLAX 123 

been trodden down, may be blown back into place by 
the breeze. 

Wearying labor it is indeed, this weeding of the flax, 
and yet those who come into a new world, as have we, 
must not complain at whatsoever is set them to do, for 
unless much time is expended, crops cannot be raised, 
and we children of Boston need only to be reminded of 
the famine, when we are inclined to laziness, in order 
to set us in motion. 

Of course you know that flax is a pretty plant, with 
a sweet, drooping, blue flower, and it ripens about the 
first of July, when it is pulled up by the roots and laid 
carefully out to dry, much as if one were making hay. 
This sort of work is always done by the men and boys, 
and during two or three days they are forced to turn the 
flax again and again, so that the sun may come upon 
every part of it. 

PREPARING FLAX 

I despair of trying to tell any one who has never seen 
flax prepared, how much and how many different 
kinds of labor are necessary, before it can be woven 
into the beautiful linen of which our mothers are so 
proud. 

First it must be rippled. The ripple comb is made 
of stout teeth, either wood or iron, set on a puncheon, 



124 



RUTH OF BOSTON 



and the stalks of flax are pulled through it to break off 
the seeds, which fall into a cloth that has been spread 
to catch them, so they may be sown for the next year's 
harvest. 

Of course this kind of work is always done in the 
field, and the stalks are then tied in bundles, which are 
called "bates," and stacked up something after the 
shape of a tent, being high in the middle and broad- 
ened out at the bottom. 

After the flax has been exposed to the weather long 
enough to be perfectly dry, then water must be sprinkled 

over it to rot the 
leaves and such 
portions of the 
stalks as are not 
used. 

Then comes that 
part of the work 
which only strong 
men can perform, 
called breaking the 
flax, to get from 
the center of the 
stalks the hard, 
wood-like "bun," 
which is of no val- 
This is done 



ue. 




SPINNING, BLEACHING, AND WEAVING ELAX 125 

with a machine made of wood, as if you were to set 
three or four broad knives on a bench, at a certain dis- 
tance apart, with as many more on a lever to come 
from above, fitting closely between the lower blades. 
The upper part of the machine is pulled down with 
force upon the flax, so that every portion of it is 
broken. 

After this comes the scutching, or swingling, which 
is done by chopping with dull knives on a block of 
wood to take out the small pieces of bark which may 
still be sticking to the fiber. 

Now that which remains is made up into bundles, 
and pounded again to clear it yet more thoroughly of 
what is of no value, after which it is hackled, and the 
fineness of the flax depends upon the number of times 
it has been hackled, which means, pulling it through a 
quantity of iron teeth driven into a board. 

SPINNING, BLEACHING, AND WEAVING FLAX 

After all this preparation has been done, then comes 
the spinning, which is, of course, the work of the women 
and girls. I am proud to say I could spin a skein of 
thread in one day, before I was thirteen years old, and 
you must know that this is no mean work for a girl, 
since it is reckoned that the best of spinners can do 
no more than two skeins. 



126 



RUTH OF BOSTON 



Of course the skeins must be bleached, otherwise 
the cloth made from them would look as if woven of 
tow, and this portion of the work mother is always 
very careful to look after herself. 

The skeins must stay in warm water for at least 
four days, and be wrung out dry every hour or two, 
when the water is to be changed. Then they are washed 
in a brook or river until there is no longer any dust or 
dirt remaining, after which they are bricked, which is 

the same as if I had said 
bleached, with ashes and 
hot water, over and over 
again, and afterward 
left to remain in clear 
water a full week. 

Then comes more 
rinsing, beating, wash- 
ing, drying, and wind- 
ing on bobbins, so that 
it may be handy for 
the loom. 

The chief men in Bos- 
ton made a law that 
all boys and girls be 
taught to spin flax, and a certain sum of money was 
set aside to be given those who made the best linen 
that had been raised, spun, and woven within the town. 




WHAT WE GIRLS DO AT HOME 127 

I am told that in some of the villages nearabout, the 
men who make the laws have ordered that every family 
shall spin so many pounds of flax each year, or pay a 
very large amount of money as a fine for neglecting 
to do so. 

It is not needed I should set down how flax is spun, 
for there is but one way to spin that I know of, whether 
the material be wool, cotton, or flax. 

But I would I might be able so to set it down, that 
whosoever reads could understand, how my mother wove 
this linen thread into cloth; but it would require more 
of words than I have patience to write. 

If there be any who have the desire to know how 
the linen for their tables, or for their clothing, is made, 
I would advise that the matter be studied as one would 
a lesson in school, for it is most interesting, and father 
holds to it that every child should be able to make all 
of that which he wears. 

WHAT WE GIRLS DO AT HOME 

In this town of Boston, if we do not know how to 
make what is needed, then must we perforce go with- 
out, because one cannot well afford to spend the time, 
nor the money, required to send from Boston to Lon- 
don for whatever may be desired, and wait until it 
shall be brought across the sea. 



128 



RUTH OF BOSTON 



I wonder if it would interest any of you to know 

what Susan and I are obliged to do in our homes during 

each working day of the week ? 

I can remember a time when we were put to it to 

perform certain tasks within six days, and have set 

down that which we did. 

It was on a Monday that Susan and I hackled fifty 

pounds of flax, and tired we were when the day was 

come to an end. On Tues- 
day we carded tow, and on 
Wednesday each spun a 
skein of linen thread. On 
Thursday we did the same 
stint, and on Friday made 
brooms of guinney wheat 
straw. On Saturday we 
spun twine out of the coarser 
part of flax, which is called 
tow, and of which I will tell 
you later. 

All this we did in a single 

week, in addition to helping our mothers about the 

house, and had no idea that we were working overly 

hard. 

And now about tow: when flax has been prepared 

to that stage where it is to be hackled, the fibers 

pulled out by the comb are yet further divided into 




MAKING SOAP 129 

cobweb-like threads, and laid carefully one above the 
other as straight as may be. To these a certain yellow 
substance sticks, which we call tow, and this can be 
spun into coarse stuff for aprons and mats, or into 
twine, which, by the way, is not very strong. 

It would surprise you, when working flax, to see to 
how small a bulk it may be reduced. What seems 
like an enormous stack, before being made ready for 
spinning, is lessened to such extent that you may 
readily take it in both hands, and then comes the next 
surprise, when you see how much cloth can be woven 
out of so small an amount of threads. 

As for myself, I am not any too fond of working 
amid the flax, save when it comes to spinning; but such 
labor is greatest pleasure as compared with soap- 
making, which is to my mind the most disagreeable 
and slovenly of all the housewife's duties. 

MAKING SOAP 

It seems strange that some industrious person, who 
is not overly fine in feelings or in habits, does not take 
it upon himself to make soap for sale. Verily it would 
be better that a family like ours buy a quart of soap 
whenever it is needed, than for the whole house to be 
turned topsy-turvy because of the dirty work. 

I wonder if there are in this country any girls so 

RUTH OF BOSTON — 9 



i 3 o RUTH OF BOSTON 

fortunate as not to have been obliged to learn how to 
make soap? I know of none in Boston, although it 
may be possible that in Salem, where are some lately 
come over from England, live those who still know the 
luxury of hard soap, such as can be bought in London. 

For those fortunate ones I will set down how my 
mother and I make a barrel of soap, for once we are 
forced to get about the task, we contrive to make up 
as large a quantity as possible. 

First, as you well know, we save all the grease which 
cannot be used in cooking, and is not needed for can- 
dles, until we have four and twenty pounds of such 
stuff as the fat of meat, scraps of suet, and drippings of 
wild turkey or wild geese, which last is not pleasant 
to use in food, and not fit for candles. 

Well, when we have saved four and twenty pounds 
of this kind of grease, and set aside six bushels of 
ashes from what is known as hard wood, such as oak, 
maple, or birch, we "set the leach." 

I suppose every family in Boston has a leach-barrel, 
which is a stout cask, perhaps one that has held pickled 
pork or pickled beef, and has in it at the very bottom 
a hole where is set a wooden spigot. 

This barrel is placed upon some sort of plat- 
form built to raise it sufficiently high from the 
ground, so that a small tub or bucket may be put 
under the spigot. Then it is filled with ashes, and 



MAKING SOAP 



131 



water poured into the top, which, of course, trickles 
down until it runs, or, as some say, is leached, out 
through the spigot, into the bucket, or whatsoever you 
have put there to 
receive it. 

While running 
slowly through the 
ashes, it becomes 
what is called lye, 
and upon the mak- 
ing of this lye de- 
pends the quality 
of the soap. 

Now, of course, 
as the water is poured upon the contents of the 
barrel, the ashes settle down, and as fast as this 
comes to pass, yet more ashes are added and more 
water thrown in, until one has leached the entire 
six bushels, when the lye should be strong enough, as 
mother's receipt for soap-making has it, to "bear up an 
egg, or a potato, so that you can see a portion of it on 
the surface as big as a ninepence." 

If the lye is not of sufficient strength to stand this 
test, it must be ladled out and poured over the ashes 
again, until finally, as will surely be the case, it has 
become strong enough. 

The next turn in the work is to build a fire out of 




i 3 2 RUTH OF BOSTON 

doors somewhere, because to make your soap in the 
house would be a most disagreeable undertaking. 
One needs a great pot, which should hold as much as 
one-third of a barrel, and into this is poured half of 
the grease and half of the lye, to be kept boiling until it 
has become soap. 

Now just when that point has been reached I cannot 
say, because of not having had sufficient experience; 
but mother is a master hand at this dirty labor, and 
always has greatest success with it. 

Of course, when one kettle-full has been boiled down, 
the remainder of the lye and the remainder of the grease 
is put in, and worked in the same manner as before. 

SOAP FROM BAYBERRIES 

It is possible, and we shall do so when time can be 
spent in making luxuries, to get soap from the tallow 
of bay berry plums. 

I have already said that we stew out a kind of vege- 
table tallow from bayberries with which to make can- 
dles, and this same grease, when boiled with lye as if 
you were making soft soap, can be cooked so stiff that, 
when poured into molds, it will form little hard cakes 
that are particularly convenient for the cleansing of 
one's hands. 

There can be no question but that bayberry soap 



GOOSE-PICKING 133 

will whiten and soften the skin better than does soft 
soap; but the labor of making it is so disagreeable 
that, as Susan says, I had rather my hands were tough 
and rough, than purchase a delicate skin at such an 
expense. 

GOOSE-PICKING 

There is another household duty which frets me much, 
and yet it must be performed, else would we be put to 
it for quills with which to write, and for soft beds, 
pillows, and quilts. It is goose-picking that I abhor, 
not only because of its seeming extremely cruel, but on 
account of its being like the soap-making, dirty work. 

I question if there be a family in Boston who does not 
own a flock of geese, and among them many who were 
once wild. They wander around the streets all sum- 
mer, paddling in the pools of water, chasing insects, 
and devouring whatsoever may have been thrown out of 
the houses that is eatable. 

I doubt whether, if it were within the power of 
our preachers so to do, they would not kill all the 
geese in the town, for more than once on a Sabbath 
day have these noisy creatures made such a tumult 
outside the church that the sermon was actually inter- 
rupted. 

Besides that, you cannot go anywhere without a 



134 



RUTH OF BOSTON 



lot of foolish geese running at your heels, hissing as if 
you had done something for which you should be 
ashamed, and they were calling attention to it. 

Twice each season, in the planting and the harvest- 
ing time, must the small feathers be stripped from the 
live birds, and while this is being done, the goose, 
which has a strong neck and beak, would inflict many 
a grievous wound if one did not pull an old stocking 
over its head. 

Some people are so particular as to have made goose 
baskets, which in shape are not unlike small gourds, and 
through the narrow neck of these the head of the goose 
is thrust, while the body can be held firmly between the 

knees of whosoever is 

I 



doing the plucking. 

Of course, when one 
is pulling feathers from 
the bird, the fine fluff, 
or down, flies every- 
where about like snow, 
and the result is, that 
unless you take the 
precaution of tying 
your hair up in cloths, 
and putting on an old 
linen dress from which 
dirt can readily be 




- ~*a 



A CHANGE OF GOVERNORS 135 

shaken, you will be covered from head to foot with 
these fluffy particles, which are not much larger than 
snow-flakes, and extremely difficult to remove. 

I have been so busy setting down matters concern- 
ing the household, as to forget that I should tell you 
how our town of Boston has grown, and who of the 
great men of England have come into it. 

A CHANGE OF GOVERNORS 

It was the third year after our coming, that Master 
John Cotton, the famous preacher, settled among us, 
taking upon himself, because of the entreaties of our 
people, the care of the First Church. 

It was also in this same year that a new governor 
was chosen, much to the regret of both Susan and me, 
for while we girls could not be expected to know any- 
thing regarding the matter, it surely seemed to us that 
Master Winthrop was the very best man in all this 
world to rule over us. 

But those who had the privilege of voting must have 
believed otherwise, for they elected Master Thomas 
Dudley in his stead, and made Master Winthrop one 
of the assistants in the Council. 

With the exception of that, and the trouble which 
Master Roger Williams, the great preacher, was mak- 
ing, nothing disturbed us. Our town continued to 



136 RUTH OF BOSTON 

grow fast, until we began to believe that before many 
years had passed it would be even as great a city as 
could be found in England, with, of course, the ex- 
ception of London. 

THE FLIGHT OF ROGER WILLIAMS 

Now as to the trouble which some of our people 
were having with Master Roger Williams: I should be 
able to set it down plainly, and yet it is not reasonable 
to suppose girls know much about the affairs of state. 

A very great preacher was Master Williams, and one 
who took it upon himself to write, for the public read- 
ing, that the King had no right to sell or give, land to us 
white people, because of the whole country's belong- 
ing to the Indians, and it can be well understood how 
much of a stir the matter caused. 

Master Williams had been chosen by the people of 
Salem as teacher in their church, and when he de- 
clared that we had no right to hold the land which the 
King had granted us, which Master Blackstone had sold 
to us, and which Chickatabut had given to us in writ- 
ing, the chief men of our town declared that he was not 
the kind of preacher who should be allowed to remain 
in the New World. Therefore they wrote to the 
people of Salem, demanding that he be sent back to 
England. 



THE FLIGHT OF ROGER WILLIAMS 



137 



Of course our gentlemen of Boston must have been 
in the right, for I have heard my father say they were, 
and surely he would not lend his face to anything which 
was at all wrong. However, the people of Salem re- 
fused to listen to us of Boston, and, much to our sur- 
prise, Master John Cotton took sides with Master 
Williams, which seemed to me very strange. 

I cannot say why it was that the people of the colony 
kept Governor Dudley in office only one year, or why 
Master Haynes was elected. 

Master Haynes was, of course, ruler over the entire 
colony, and, as father said, not the kind of man to be 
trifled with by Master Williams, even though he was a 
preacher. Therefore, when Captain Underhill was 
about to sail for 
England, our Gov- 
ernor commanded 
him to take Master 
Williams back to 
London. 

Some one, it 
seems, told the 
preacher what was 
on foot, and, al- 
though it was in 
January with the 
snow piled deep 




138 RUTH OF BOSTON 

everywhere around, he fled from Salem into the woods, 
trusting himself to the mercy of the savages rather 
than be sent back in disgrace. 

I have heard that it was a bitterly cold day, with the 
snow blowing furiously, when the poor man plunged 
into the woods in flight, taking with him nothing what- 
soever save that which he wore upon his back. 

Father came to know afterward, that Master Williams 
spent the winter with the Pokanoket Indians, some of 
whom he had met during the short time he lived at 
Plymouth, and in the spring went to the shore of 
Narragansett Bay, where it was reported that he was 
trying to build up a village. 

SIR HARRY VANE 

Quite the most distinguished person who came 
among us was Sir Harry Vane. His father was a 
Privy Councilor to the King, and one of the Secretaries 
of State in England. Because of wanting to see the 
New World, the young gentleman had been given 
permission to come to this country for a term of three 
years. 

I wish you could have seen the stir that was made 
when he arrived. The Governor, with his soldiers 
and trumpeters, went down to the wharf to receive 
him with great ceremony, and the cannon on board 



SIR HARRY VANE 



*39 



the ships were discharged with a wondrous noise when 
he stepped ashore. 

He was a most pleasing man to look upon, so young 
and so courtly, while his costume was a marvel of ele- 
gance. It seemed to me, as I saw him taking the 




Governor's hand with so much grace, that we needed 
but few men of the same kind among us to lend great 
distinction to our town in America. 

That same evening, however, my mother reproached 
me because of worldly thoughts, saying that fine 
feathers do not make fine birds, although they may 



i 4 o RUTH OF BOSTON 

make a bird look fine, which I suppose is the same as 
if she had said that an evil man might, by his costume, 
be made to appear worthy, whereas he would not be so 
at heart. 

However, I was not the only one in Boston who 
favored Sir Harry Vane, for before the year was over, 
when Master Haynes' term of office had expired, he 
was chosen as our Governor, and surely no person could 
have, looked more kingly than did he, when he stood 
in the door of the Great House bowing to those people 
who had assembled in honor of his having been elected. 

MAKING SUGAR 

Susan and I had a right delightful time when the 
first warm days of spring came, for then it was the 
season in which to make sugar. I do not mean to say 
that we girls took any part in the sweet work ; but on a 
certain day, very early in the morning, we were allowed 
to go out to Master Winthrop's plantation in New 
Town, there to see his people at the task, and, what 
was far better, we remained until late at night. 

It was the first time I had been away from home, 
save to go over to Charlestown for a few hours, since 
we came from England, and I enjoyed it all the more 
because of its being something strange. 

The snow was deep on the low-lying lands, there- 



MAKING SUGAR 



141 



fore we wore snow-shoes, and you must know that 
we girls can use those odd footings almost as well as 
do the Indian children. It was a long walk to New 
Town; but father went with us, his gun loaded heavily 
in case we came across a hungry wolf, and so great 
was the excitement of 
going abroad after hav- 
ing been kept in the 
house, except on those 
days when we went to 
meeting or lecture, ever 
since the winter began, 
that we gave no heed 
to fatigue. 

It seems queer that 
one can get sugar from 
trees, and yet so we do 
in this new country, 
otherwise there would 
be many times when we would not have sweet cake, for 
vessels seldom arrive from England with stores at the 
very moment when one is in need of this thing or that. 

After we had arrived at Master Winthrop's planta- 
tion, good Mistress Winthrop went with us girls to 
see the sap drawn from the maples, and the three of us 
rode on a sled hauled by one of the serving men, of 
whom Master Winthrop has many. 




142 



RUTH OF BOSTON 



Do you know how the sap is taken? Well, first a 
hole is bored in the trunk of a tree, about as high from 
the surface as will admit of placing a bucket beneath 
it, and into this a small wooden spout, or spigot, is 
driven. Beneath the spout is placed a bucket or tub, 
and into this the sap, coaxed up from the roots by 
the warmth of the sun, drops, or runs, very slowly. 

Master Winthrop's 
serving men made holes 
in many trees, and then, 
when the work had been 
done, went about gather- 
ing the sap out of the 
buckets or tubs, into 
casks, which were 
I hauled from place to 
place on a sled, exactly 
as Mistress Winthrop, 
Susan and I had ridden. 
As soon as a cask has been 
filled, a huge fire is built 
near at hand, and over it 
is hung a large kettle, much 
as if one were counting on making soap. In this 
the sap is boiled until it is thick, like molasses, in 
case one wishes to" make syrup, or yet longer if sugar 
is wanted. 




A "SUGARING DINNER" 143 

Of course it is necessary to taste of the syrup very 
often to learn if it has been cooked enough, and this 
portion of the work Susan and I did until we felt much 
as flies look after they have been feasting on molasses, 
and have their wings and legs clogged with sweetness. 

I do not mean to say that we besmeared ourselves 
with it; but we ate so much while tasting to learn if the 
cooking was going on properly, that I felt as if I had 
been turned into a big cake of sugar. 

When the sap is thick enough to "sugar," as it is 
called, it is poured into pans of birch-bark, where 
it cools in cakes, each weighing two or three pounds. 

a "sugaring dinner" 

We enjoyed ourselves hugely until well after noon, 
when we were so weary and sticky that it was a 
positive relief to hear Mistress Winthrop propose that 
we go back to her dwelling, and there what do you 
think we found? 

No less than twenty people from Boston, among 
whom were Susan's mother and mine, had all come 
out for what is called the "sugaring dinner." 

Master Cotton, the preacher, was with the company, 
and he made a most beautiful prayer while we were 
waiting for the meal to be served, after which the 
spirit moved him to ask at great length, and in a most 



144 



RUTH OF BOSTON 



touching manner, that the food might be blessed to 
each and every one of us. 

One could never have believed that we who were 
gathered around the table ever had known what it 

was to be painfully 
- ^_ hungry during one 

entire winter, for 
there was sufficient 
of food to have 
served us, in the old 
days, a full week. 

There were two 
enormous wild tur- 
keys roasted to a 
most delicious crisp- 
ness, one placed at 
either end of the 
table, while the handsomest standing salt I ever saw 
was exactly in the center, so that no one could say 
whether he was seated above or below the salt. 

There were also two huge venison pies, with the 
pastry made wholly of wheat flour; and placed around 
the pies in a most tasteful manner, were potted pigeons, 
in small dishes. There were apple and pear tarts; 
marmalade and preserved plums, grapes, barberries 
and cherries, together with poppy and cherry water, 
cordial and mint water. 




A "SUGARING DINNER" 



M5 



It was a most delicate feast, and my greatest regret 
was that I had tasted so often of the maple sap I could 
not do full justice to it. Tears actually stood in Susan's 
eyes as she whispered to me after the dinner was come 
to an end, and we were allowed to talk with each other, 

"I shall never live long enough to cease being sorry 
because I could not eat more." 

It was the same as if she had confessed to the sin of 
gluttony, and it was my duty to reprove her; but I 
could not find it in my heart so to do, because of 
much the same thought's being in my own mind. 

We all sang psalms until near to seven o'clock in the 
evening, when good Master Winthrop gave us a famous 
ride on his new sled drawn by two oxen, and thus did 




KITH OF BOS KIM IO 



i 4 6 RUTH OF BOSTON 

we go home like really fashionable folk, who must 
needs turn night into day, as my mother declared. 

TRAINING DAY 

I must tell you of our Training Day, in the month of 
May, after Master Roger Williams had fled into the 
wilderness to escape the wrath of our people which 
he had aroused ; and I am setting down what happened 
on that particular day, because of its. being the largest 
and most exciting training ever held in Boston, so every 
one says. 

Susan believes Training Day should come oftener 
than four times a year, so that we young people may 
get some idea of what gay life is like in the old countries, 
where they make festivals of Christmas, and other 
saints' days. It does truly seem as if we might see 
our soldiers perform quite often, for it is a most in- 
spiring spectacle, and especially was it on last Training 
Day, when, so father says, there were upwards of seven 
hundred men marching back and forth across the 
Common in a manner which at times was really terrify- 
ing, because of their fierce appearance when fully 
armed. 

Imagine, if you can, a row of booths along the Com- 
mon, in which are for sale ground nuts, packages of 
nookick, sweet cakes, pumpkin bread roasted brown 



TRAINING DAY 147 

and spread with syrup made from maple sap, to- 
gether with dainties of all kinds lately brought over 
from England. 

Between these booths and the water are many tents, 
which have been set up that the people of quality may 
entertain their friends therein with toothsome food and 
sweet waters. 

The middle of the Common, and a long space at 
either end, is kept clear of idle ones that the soldiers 
may exercise at arms, and these do not appear until 
the on-lookers are in their places. Then we hear a 
flourish of trumpets, the rolling of drums, and from 
the direction of the Neck comes our army, a mighty 
array of seven hundred or more men, all armed and 
equipped as the law directs. 

When this vast body of warlike men have marched 
into the vacant space, they are drawn up in line, there 
is another flourish of trumpets, together with the rolling 
of drums, and Master Cotton comes out from the tent 
which has been set up for the use of the Governor and 
his assistants, to offer a prayer. 

On this day, moved by the sight of the great throng, 
Master Cotton prayed long and fervently, whereat 
some of the younger soldiers, having not the fear of 
God in their hearts, pulled long faces one to another, 
or shifted about uneasily on their feet, as if weary with 
longstanding, and I trembled lest the Governor, seeing 



148 



RUTH OF BOSTON 



such levity, might rebuke them openly, which would 
be a great disgrace at such a time. 

When Master Cotton was done with praying, the 
soldiers began to march here and there in many ways, 




until one's eyes were confused with watching them, 
and then came the volleys, as the men shot straight 
over the heads of the people; but father says no one 
need fear such warlike work, for there were no bullets 
in the guns. 

Of course I understood that he must needs know 
whether this be true or not, else he would not have 



SHOOTING FOR A PRIZE 149 

spoken it; and yet I could not but shudder when so 
many guns were fired at one time, while the smoke of 
powder in the air was most painful to the eyes. 

After the soldiers had marched back and forth in the 
most ferocious manner possible until noon, they were 
allowed a time for rest, and then it was that those who 
had set up tents, entertained their friends at table 
with stores upon stores of dainties of every kind. 

SHOOTING FOR A PRIZE 

I have heard that Sir Harry Vane declared our 
soldiers presented a very fine front, whatever that may 
be, and he is not backward about saying that even the 
King himself has no more warlike appearing men in his 
army. All of which is surely true, for Sir Harry, being 
the son of a Privy Councilor, must have seen His 
Majesty's troops many a time. . 

After all the people had feasted, each in his own 
fashion, and the soldiers had been refreshed at the ex- 
pense of the town, the marching was begun again, to 
be continued in a manner like to make one's head 
swim, until the Governor gave the signal that the shoot- 
ing at a target might commence, when it was that the 
guns were loaded with real bullets. 

On this day it was Sir Harry who gave the prize to 
be shot for, which was a doublet of velvet trimmed 



i5° 



RUTH OF BOSTON 



with lace, the value of which, so father declares, is not 
less than five times as great as any prize that has ever 
been offered on Training Day in Boston. 

Susan and I were eager to know who won it ; but be- 
fore the matter was settled, my mother insisted it was 
time for us to go home, because of the behavior of 
some of the soldiers' being none of the best after they 
have done with the training. 

However, we saw the doublet, and marked well the 

pattern of the lace, 
therefore if the 
winner wears it on 
the street, there 
will be no question 
as to our knowing 
it again. 

The training was 
a most enjoyable 
spectacle, even 
though Susan and 
I were so fright- 
ened at times that 
it seemed as if our 
hearts were really 
in our mouths, and 
when we followed mother home on that afternoon, it 
was with the belief that our town of Boston, although 




LFX'TURE DAY 15 1 

not as old as Jamestown, Plymouth or Salem, had 
grown, both in numbers and fashion, far beyond any 
other settlement in this New World. 



LECTURE DAY 

My mother believes it would be better if Training 
Day were done away with entirely, for she says we 
spend far too much time in the pursuit of frivolity, 
when we have no less than one lecture-day in each 
week. It must be that she is in the right, for father 
has much the same opinion, and declares a stop must 
be put to so many lectures, which but gives a con- 
venient excuse for indolent people, who should be at 
work on the plantations or in the houses, to go gadding 
about the town. 

You must know that Thursday is the day when we 
listen to lectures by some of the preachers, or those among 
the magistrates who have the gift of speech, and this has 
been the custom since the first year we came here. 

In the early days the lecture hour was in the fore- 
noon ; but at the end of three years, after Boston was 
become a town, those in authority over us passed a law 
that the lecture should not begin until one of the clock 
in the afternoon, and this was done in order that the 
people might not have an excuse to spend the entire 
day in idleness. 



i52 RUTH OF BOSTON 

I cannot see, however, that any more work is done 
on Thursdays now than before the law was made, for as 
soon as breakfast is finished and the houses have been 
set in order, nearly every one walks on the streets, this 
pleasure being forbidden on Sabbath days, until it is 
time to gather at the church. 

Our magistrates also tried to make the rule that no 
minister, or other person, should lecture more often 
than once in every two weeks, in order that we might 
have less of such diversion; but no heed is given to 
this law, for I myself have heard Master Cotton speak 
to the people no less than twice on every Thursday, 
and this in addition to lectures by other preachers. 

If father were one of the magistrates, mother would 
do all she might to have the hour of the meetings set 
back to the morning, for she believes it is wrong to 
make of the forenoon a time for the punishing of evil- 
doers, as has come to be the custom. 

PUNISHMENT FOR EVIL-DOERS 

Now, when we go out to mingle with the people, it is 
impossible not to stop here or there when one of the 
constables is whipping an idle fellow through the 
streets, laying the lashes on his bare back with such 
force that the blood follows nearly every blow. 

Then again, it is not often that one can pass the post 



PUNISHMENT FOR EVIL-DOERS 



x 53 



at the corner of Prison Lane, without seeing some 
wrong-doer chained there as punishment for striking 
one of the people, and the cage wherein are kept men 
and women who have offended against the laws is 
seldom empty on a Thursday. 

The prison itself is a dreary looking place, although 
it is not quite so very different from the church, but 
somehow its barred 
windows make the 
shivers run up and 
down my back and 
I always hurry past 
it with as much 
speed as possible. 

Most likely there 
are as many bad 
people in the other 
towns of this New 
World, as in Boston; but it surely seems to Susan and 
me as if we had among us all those in America who 
delight in breaking the laws. 

Of all the punishments which are inflicted here, I 
think the most cruel is that of sentencing a man to 
wear, so long as he may live, a halter around his neck 
so that every one may see it, for thus is the wrong-doer 
forced to shame himself during every hour of the day, 
and especially on Thursdays, when he must stand not 




iS4 



RUTH OF BOSTON 



less than two hours during the forenoon on the steps 
of the church. 

It is on lecture day that one may see the latest no- 
tices put up on the church, together with the announce- 
ments of those who intend to be married, and Susan 
and I have great pleasure in reading these, for then 
are we aware of anything important about to take place. 

Of course there are times when we are not so well 
pleased at being forced to sit still five or six long hours, 
listening to this preacher or that who feels a call to 
speak during the lecture time; but if we failed to do so, 
we should not be allowed to go on the street wheresoever 
we please, therefore I hope that mother will not be able 
to have the lecture hour changed to the morning. 

THE MURDER OF JOHN OLDHAM 



It was six years after we had come to live in Boston, 
that a most terrible crime was committed by the savages 

of the Narragan- 
sett tribe, for then 
they killed Captain 
John Oldham, and 
three other men, 
who were sailing 
on Long Island 
Sound. The vessel 




THE MURDER OF JOHN OLDHAM 155 

was taken by the Indians, after they had murdered all 
on board, and we in Boston were moved to great fear, 
believing the brown men around us were making ready 
to murder the white people. 

Sir Harry Vane, the Governor, sent five of our chief 
men to the head savage of the Narragansett tribe, to 
inquire into the matter, and these messengers were told 
that none save the Indians living on Block Island 
had any hand in the matter. 

Then it was that Governor Vane commanded Master 
Endicott of Salem, to take a large number of fighting 
men in three vessels, and punish the murderers as they 
deserved. 

Master Endicott did according to the command; 
but when he was come to Block Island, the brown 
people had run away; therefore all he could do 
was to burn the huts, destroy the canoes, and shoot 
the dogs that were prowling around the deserted village. 

This Master Endicott did not believe was punish- 
ment enough for what had been done, therefore he 
crossed over to the mainland where the Indians who 
call themselves Pequots live, and there he killed more 
than twenty of these people, besides seizing their corn. 
He also burned, or destroyed in some other way, all 
the goods belonging to the savages that he could find, 
and then came back to Boston, where the people of the 
town turned out to give him a noble welcome. 



156 RUTH OF BOSTON 

We had a thanksgiving day because of what had been 
done, and believed, or, at least, Susan and I did, that 
we need fear nothing more from the savages, for surely 
the brown people would not dare molest any white 
man again after being so severely punished. 

SAVAGES ON THE WAR-PATH 

It was not many days, however, before word was 
brought to Boston that the Pequot Indians were trying 
to coax the Narragansett savages to join them in kill- 
ing every Englishman that could be found in the 
land. 

Father had said that this might be done, if the brown 
people all over the country should come together, and 
we who lived in Boston and Salem were in great fear. 

The soldiers were called together from every village. 
The gates of the fort on the Neck were kept closed, 
with men stationed there night and day to see that no 
enemy came through, and the preachers prayed most 
fervently that our lives might be spared because of our 
doing our utmost to serve God as He would have us. 

Then it was that the Lord heard our prayers, else had 
we all been killed, and it was brought about in a way 
such as, my mother said, heaped coals of fire upon our 
heads. 

The same Master Roger Williams who had been 



SAVAGES ON THE WAR-PATH 



157 



driven out into the wilderness, because of holding a 
belief contrary to ours, and who had lived with the 
Narragansett Indians since then, so pleaded with the 
savages of the tribe that they sent some of their chief 
people to Boston, with promises of friendliness. 

Sir Harry Vane received the visitors with great state. 
All our soldiers were paraded through the streets, and 
in front of the Governor's house. The drummers 
marched to and fro making music, and the people came 
out on the streets that the Indians might believe we had 
not been afraid. 

It was much like Training Day, save that only the 
magistrates of the town were allowed to know what 
was being done in the Governor's house after the savages 




i 5 8 RUTH OF BOSTON 

had gone into the building, decked out in a brave array 
of feathers, and in clothing embroidered with fanciful 
colored quills of porcupines, and with their faces paint- 
ed in a most hideous fashion. 

We were told, after the Indians had marched out of 
the town, near to sunset, one behind the other in a 
manner as solemn as if they were coming from church, 
that the tribe of Narragansett savages had promised 
to aid us white people against the brown men of the 
Pequot tribe, in every way possible, and greatly did we 
rejoice that night, for it seemed as if all trouble had 
passed. 

PEQUOT INDIANS 

The Englishmen who had settled in the colony known 
as Connecticut, soon found that the Pequot savages 
could do much of wickedness, even though the Narra- 
gansetts had said they would be friends with the white 
people, for within a very short time after Master Roger 
Williams had sent the Indians to us in peace, did a 
season of murder begin. 

Because of my being a girl, who is not supposed to 
understand affairs of state, and who could only cower 
in fear and trembling by the side of her mother when 
word was brought of the dreadful deeds done by the 
Pequot savages, I shall not set down anything what- 



PEQUOT INDIANS 



159 



soever concerning that terrible winter, when we heard 
nothing save stories of blood and direst suffering. 

No one could say whether, despite all Master Roger 
Williams might be able to do, the savages nearabout 
would not fall upon us of Boston as they had upon the 
white people of Connecticut, and, therefore, as soon as 
the shadows of evening had begun to gather, we girls 
sought the protection of our mothers. 

Seated before the roaring fires, not daring to move 
about the house even after the doors and shutters were 
securely barred, we started in alarm at every sound, 
hearing in the roaring of the wind, or the crackling of 




160 RUTH OF BOSTON 

the fire, some token that the brown people were skulk- 
ing around striving to get inside that they might shed 
our blood. 

It was far worse than the time of the famine, for 
then we knew just what might come to us, and if death 
entered the house, we would meet it in the arms of those 
we loved; but from all which had been told by those 
affrighted people who came to us from Connecticut, 
we realized that horrors such as could not even be im- 
agined, would be upon us with the coming of those 
savages who had sworn to make an end of the white 
settlers in the New World. 

It is not well even that I set down in words the dis- 
tress of mind which was ours during that long dread- 
ful winter; but this I may say in all truth, as the parting 
word, that nowhere in the Massachusetts Bay Colony 
could have been found a more distressed or unhappy 
girl, than this same Ruth of Boston. 



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mm 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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